Remaking the American Patient: How Madison Avenue and Modern Medicine Turned Patients into Consumers

by Nancy Tomes

Overview

In a work that spans the twentieth century, Nancy Tomes questions the popular--and largely unexamined--idea that in order to get good health care, people must learn to shop for it. Remaking the American Patient explores the consequences of the consumer economy and American medicine having come of age at exactly the same time. Tracing the robust development of advertising, marketing, and public relations within the medical profession and the vast realm we now think of as "health care," Tomes considers what it means to be a "good" patient. As she shows, this history of the coevolution of medicine and consumer culture tells us much about our current predicament over health care in the United States. Understanding where the shopping model came from, why it was so long resisted in medicine, and why it finally triumphed in the late twentieth century helps explain why, despite striking changes that seem to empower patients, so many Americans remain unhappy and confused about their status as patients today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469622781
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	01/06/2016
Series:	Studies in Social Medicine
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	560
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Nancy Tomes is professor of history at Stony Brook University and author of The Gospel of Germs: Men, Women, and the Microbe in American Life.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

No historian other than Nancy Tomes could have succeeded so admirably in tracing the complicated path of medical consumerism through the major political and social developments of the twentieth century. A novel and highly readable account of the rise of the patient-consumer in the United States, Remaking the American Patient defines a new area of inquiry.—Christopher Crenner, University of Kansas Medical Center



A superb book!  By closely looking at the business of the doctor's office and the drug store over the twentieth century, Nancy Tomes shows how American medicine has become what it is today and why, despite a century of reforms made in the patient's interest, patients now constantly sign consent forms and still wish their doctors talked to them more. Remaking the American Patient is beautifully written and essential to understanding the current predicament of medical care in America.—Leslie J. Reagan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and author of Dangerous Pregnancies: Mothers, Disabilities, and Abortion in Modern America

Christopher Crenner University of Kansas Medical Center

No historian other than Nancy Tomes could have succeeded so admirably in tracing the complicated path of medical consumerism through the major political and social developments of the twentieth century. A novel and highly readable account of the rise of the patient-consumer in the United States, Remaking the American Patient defines a new area of inquiry.

Editorial Reviews

A fluent and immensely readable chronology, minutely referenced, instructive and ruefully entertaining. . . . [The] last chapter is a particular tour de force, a virtuoso summary of our present circumstances as we find ourselves both far better off, healthwise, than we have ever been and yet somehow right back where we began"—New York Times



This fascinating book . . . will intrigue health care professionals and policymakers as well as interested lay readers."—Library Journal, starred review



A sweeping book that is thoughtfully researched and meticulously documented . . . [and] disproves several reigning myths about the current culture of medicine in the United States."—Health Affairs



Casts the history of American medicine in a new light and helps explains the roots of contemporary patients' and physicians' predicaments."—American Historical Review



Tomes successfully derives valuable insights into current concerns from her historical analysis of the fading distinction between medical professionalism and commerce."—CHOICE



An even-handed account, noting that patients have long maintained unrealistic expectations of medicine, fueled in turn by advertising puffery."—Bulletin of the History of Medicine



Tomes is the first to longitudinally examine patient consumerism—and the capacity of laypeople to stand back, examine, and critique medical care—from the 19th century to the present day."—Perspectives in Biology and Medicine



Strongly recommended for scholars of medical history, for use in graduate and advanced undergraduate classes, and for anyone interested in health care reform."—Canadian Journal of History

From the Publisher

★ 12/01/2015
With advertisements for hospitals and prescription and nonprescription drugs on display virtually everywhere, Americans are encouraged to shop for medical care. Available health and medical information, both online and in print, makes it relatively easy to learn about illnesses, drugs, and medical procedures. It would seem that American patients have it all, yet Tomes (history, Stony Brook Univ.; The Gospel of Germs) ably points out that, in some ways, things have not changed that much. In analyzing the impact of advertising on health care, the author notes that patients are caught in a dysfunctional health care system that is expensive and fragmented. New treatments are not always better than older and less expensive remedies, and the increasing cost of care doesn't always mean improved quality. The idea that doctors and patients are partners engaged in the quest for health is an ideal one; however, both parties need to communicate well and be able to separate the commercial from the objective. VERDICT This fascinating book with copious notes and an extensive bibliography will intrigue health care professionals and policymakers as well as interested lay readers.—Barbara Bibel, formerly with Oakland P.L.

Library Journal