Mutation du patient et construction d'un marché de la santé. L'expérience française

This article provides a comparative analysis of two major developments in health policy: the autonomisation of the patient and regulation by demand. The first tendency consists in shift towards understanding the patient as an autonomous actor. In practice, this tendency has manifested itself through the adoption of patients? rights to information as well as demands for a further right to informed consent. At the same time, economic policy emphasises the importance of demand in the regulation of spending on healthcare. These developments suggest the emergence of healthcare consumers. This further assumes a sovereign consumer who is fully informed and evaluates standardised health products (basket of treatments) and services (doctors, insurance). Our analysis examines the implications of these transformations in healthcare in terms of their impact on both efficiency and equity.