[Patient role in changing conditions: yesterday--today--tomorrow]

Changing conditions within the German healthcare system and new trends of information management will decisively change the patient's role. Increase in morbidity caused by the ageing population aggravates the economic pressure within the social healthcare system. Due to the ongoing medical progress, this will inevitably lead to the restriction of medical services trough budgeting. Whereas the patient's role in the past was rather passive, his position will change in future. This is not only caused by an increase in patient education and social status, but also by the availability of information provided by the worldwide web. The number of educated patients who are gathering information via the worldwide web and discussing their diseases with fellow patients via e-mail will rapidly grow. The traditional doctor-patient relationship will be less exclusive in future and will be embedded in the network of reimbursement facilities, patients' groups and information management.