Clients or Patients? Both!

Last week’s Grey’s Anatomy had the docs bristling because some consultants were referring to their patients as clients.  Which got me to thinking: What are they- clients or patients?  IMHO, both.  I think healthcare organizations need to view consumers as clients, and physicians need to treat them as patients.  This was reinforced at some focus groups I did for a health system last week.  In other words:

1. Hospitals need to know what consumers in their target market want, including but not limited to receiving the best possible care.  Much the same way as airlines need to know what “passengers” want, including but not limited to getting to the destination in one piece.  In that vein, they need to look at consumers as clients, or potential clients.
2. Hospitals need to be able to deliver on that knowledge both in how they market to consumers and in what they have to offer.  For example, consumers have an expectation that when they go into a hospital, they will get better.  They assume great physicians, cutting-edge technology, etc.  But is that enough?  At the focus groups last week, one participant complained because the ER did not have Wi-Fi.  Others talked about the ability to order food off the TV in their room.
3. At the same time, when I am being treated, I want the doctor to treat me like a patient. When I am in the hospital or a doctor’s office (in other words, when I am already a client), I am not shopping for a car or walking into a hotel or store.  The ER doc in Grey’s Anatomy acted and talked like a salesperson, and the product he was selling was healthcare.  He did everything but say “I feel your pain.”  I want my physician to exude expertise and worry less about what I want and more about making me better.

So, patient or client?  I say both.  What about you?