This article looks at the changes in the doctor-patient relationship as a result of the emergence of expert-patients. The exploration of this behavioral innovation leads to two major propositions: the definition of the expert-patient on the basis of the asymmetry of knowledge (instead of asymmetry of information), and the formalization and the conceptualization of a new emerging relationship between doctors and expert-patients. This research paves the road for several research perspectives: the resulting organizational innovations; the implications for the management of the health system; the implementation modes to get a dialogue going between the different players; and the methodologies which could be used to develop empirical research, which is rare in this field.
JEL Codes: D83, I18, O31