By: Jaime Caldwell
Patients or customers? Over the last few years, this distinction has interested many writers. Those of us who have some age on us, have always referred to people seeking or getting treatment/care in hospitals as patients. Is it time to look at that distinction?
In recent years, there has been a shift in some healthcare settings to also view patients as “customers” or “clients.” This shift is often influenced by a more consumer-oriented approach to healthcare, where individuals are seen as consumers who have choices about where they seek care. From this perspective, hospitals may focus on improving the patient experience, providing high-quality service, and meeting the expectations and preferences of those seeking care.
Ultimately, whether a hospital refers to individuals as patients or customers can depend on various factors, including organizational culture, strategic objectives, and the evolving dynamics of the healthcare industry. Some hospitals may use both terms interchangeably or adopt a hybrid approach that acknowledges both the clinical and consumer aspects of the patient-provider relationship.
Whether we call them patients or customers/clients, the end result is still the same…we need to retain the ones that we have and we need to reach out to new ones.
Optimizing patient access is one of the methods employed to accomplish both goals. The South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association will explore these issues at our 18th Annual Summit, Linda S. Quick Memorial Lecture Series entitled, “Optimizing Patient Access.”
The Summit, on June 12 at the Charles F. Dodge City Center will explore the importance or reasons why optimizing patient access is important, technologies including AI that will be used to assist in the process, how existing workforces will be impacted by the shift to optimizing patient access, and what are the top-line impacts associated with this shift in focus.
You can find our sponsorship and registration information at www.sfhha.com and click on our Calendar page. I’ll be seeing you in June!
