It is the explicit, political ambition of the Region of the capital in Denmark to apply the principle of patient empowerment on all levels of the health-care system. However, precise operationalized criteria for the application of patient empowerment are still not well-defined. In this article the premises of such an application is analysed and it is shown what kind of evidence should be required as criteria for interventions by the health-care system. A differentiation between two forms of interventions is made: one supporting patients who already control most of their own health care, an other increasing patients' responsibilities.