As if the trauma of integrating electronic health records weren’t bad enough, now the medical profession faces an even more difficult transition: regarding patients as consumers.

This latest affront to the profession—one that affects medical insurers as well—comes as a direct result of the national effort to encourage people to take greater control of their medical care. Obamacare made citizens aware that they had choices and challenged them to educate themselves. Suddenly, yesterday’s patient became tomorrow’s potential customer.

A recent Modern Healthcare survey—the CEO Power Panel—recognized this new focus on consumerism and asked respondents detailed questions about how they are positioning themselves as consumer-facing businesses.