Controversial responses: Are patients 'consumers' of healthcare?

I've had spirited debates with colleagues who defend the term—and mindset and values and needs—of 'patient.' I don’t disagree that many people want to be taken care of in times of need, but I think the choice between consumer and patient is an often false dichotomy. There’s good reason for them to want to preserve the term: it validates their role, purpose and sense of value, and it’s a powerful mindset that’s inculcated in many types of health care training. But it's increasingly misplaced, and provider education systems are not aware of how much the ground has shifted under their feet.

What my work and results from programs I've developed for other clients affirm is that people want a shared locus of control, and that because the vocabulary really comes from providers and their educational culture, the reality is that that culture creates a very different paradigm, so what makes sense from inside that paradigm doesn’t necessarily make sense outside of it. 'Empowered' doesn’t mean in charge, though some think of it that way.