In recent years, we have seen significant shifts in policy, payment, technology, and demographics that are transforming medicine and health care. In our view, none of these changes have been more profound than the increasing influence of the patient's perspective on health care. In this context, the Oxford Dictionary defines patient as “a person receiving or registered to receive medical treatment.” The adjective use is also notable: “able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.” The language denotes “patient” as passive and willing to accept things out of one's own control; this is no longer the case.
For over a decade, we have seen growing consideration of the patient's views related to care delivery, research, medical-product development, and other aspects of our health ecosystem.1 This focus is often referred to as capturing the “patient voice” and emphasizes the need for the health care...