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Need an argumentative essay on The Role of the Consumer in Health Care. Needs to be 6 pages. Please no plagiarism.

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The objective of this paper is to explore the role of the consumer in health care delivery. The discussion will be in light of features of consumer behavior in service industry, and how they apply to health care. It will also discuss how providers may need to change in order to be able to accommodate the “voice of the consumer.” Features of Consumer behaviors, how they apply to health care providers and how providers may need to change, to accommodate the “voice of the consumer” Active participation of consumers in heath care has been singled out as one vital element that needs to be incorporated into the health care system. This is due to the fact that the society has begun stressing more prominently the concept of personal responsibility for health (Arnold 6). Consumers are expected to take individual responsibility for their own behaviors and lifestyle such as drinking, smoking, eating among others (Herzlinger 22). This is due to the fact that these can have considerable health consequences independent of any medical care. Secondly, many consumer movements have entered into the healthcare field, with quite a number of consumers demanding to be active participants in decision making regarding their own health care treatments. Indeed providers can no longer decide on their own what the best treatment for a patient is (Slocum 102. Buchbinder 98). Thirdly, many proponents among them economists have identified informed consumer choice as a vital element of a better functioning health care marketplace. This is based on the premise that consumers could be aggravated to make comparison of different healthcare plans based on cost, quality of care and benefits received and select the best health care plan that best satisfies their requirements (Arnold 5). This process of informed choice among consumers is seen as a way of encouraging different health care providers to be more responsive to consumer needs by improving the quality of services they offer (World Health Organization 25). It is a mater of fact that no individual consumer would be willing to associate with a health care plan that is expensive. This is a case supported by the principle of demand and supply especially where there is other options to choose from in a free market. In such a case, a consumer would prefer to get his or her services from the supplier or industry that charges the lowest cost. The same applies to health care system plans and services. Many consumers would prefer to associate with health care plans that charge the lowest cost for the plans and services they offer (Herzlinger 50). This, in most cases, forces many health care providers to lower their prices in order to remain competitive in the market. Those that persist on charging high prices more than often loose customers and as such face close down. It is, therefore, important that health care providers respond to these impacts by carrying out a cost study in the market to ensure that the prices charged for the services are affordable to all consumers. The prices should also conform to those charged by other competitors in the same industry. In this case, the prices charged should not be too high or too low. Instead, it should only be able to cover the costs incurred and meet other obligations of the heath care facility as this help attract many consumer to the health care system or providers.