To doctors and hospitals, I am a CLIENT, not a patient.

[Guest guest]

In late 1989, I was diagnosed with cancer. In 1990, I began calling

myself a doctor's " client " rather than his/her " patient. "

The reason is that it became so completely apparent to me, subsequent

to being dx'd with cancer, and thus spending so much time in doctors'

offices and in hospitals, that doctoring and hospitals are

undoubtedly Businesses, with a Capital " B. "

What other business can you think of in which the person who has been

hired and who is being paid for his services, gets to call the person

they're working for their " patient " ?

What does the word " patient " connote anymore except a hierarchy in

which the client is dependent and inferior to the person, (in this

case a doctor or a hospital staff), he has hired to help him to get

well from dis-ease? Perhaps in another century the word " patient "

referred to some kind of special trust/special relationship a person

had with his doctor. I am not sure of that. I am not sure at all, in

fact of how the privilege of calling their clients " patients " was

bestowed upon or invented by doctors. I do know that Bernard Shaw,

whose life spanned both the 19th and the early 20th centuries, had a

healthy mistrust of doctors. Here are two two of his paraphrased

quotations about doctors and doctoring:

1) " One of the worst things about becoming seriously ill is that one

finds oneself in the hands of a profession one deeply mistrusts. "

2) " While it may be in the best interest of society to give bakers a

pecuniary interest in baking bread, it is not at all necessarily in

the best interest of society to give surgeons a pecuniary interest in

cutting off legs. "

Q: What is the very FIRST thing a doctor's office or a hospital is

interested in when meeting a new client?

A: The first thing they want to know is how they will get paid for

their services.

That is only reasonable, of course. Any business must have a way of

ensuring clients will pay them for services performed, but why, then,

is it that doctors and hospitals get to call their clients " patients "

instead of " clients " ?

This is not a trivial matter I am talking about---not in an age in

which anyone who wishes to can surf the internet to quickly educate

themselves to the point where they can be on a fairly equal footing

with their doctor when it comes to discussing diagnosis, prognosis

and treatment. In fact, with the advent of the internet, it is even

possible for someone to know about an effective treatment or

treatments of which the doctor is unaware.

Then of course there is the huge area of natural/alternative

treatment, about which far too many doctors still know little to

nothing, and when a person well-versed in natural/alternative

medicine is doing all they can to heal themselves, an MD may well be

only one of several different professionals with whom they are

working.

Here are definitions of both the word " patient " and the

word " client. " " Patient " appears to me to have far more to do with

being passive, and with being acted upon, than does " client. " When it

comes to being treated for life-threatening, or just quality of life-

threatening dis-easem, I very much prefer the active role, and I use

the active word both to remind myself that no one cares more about my

health than I do, and to let medical professionals know who I am and

how I expect to be treated.

pa·tient (pshnt)

adj.

1. Bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance

with calmness.

2. Marked by or exhibiting calm endurance of pain, difficulty,

provocation, or annoyance.

3. Tolerant; understanding: an unfailingly patient leader and guide.

4. Persevering; constant: With patient industry, she revived the

failing business and made it thrive.

5. Capable of calmly awaiting an outcome or result; not hasty or

impulsive.

6. Capable of bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or

annoyance: " My uncle Toby was a man patient of injuries " ce

Sterne.

n.

1. One who receives medical attention, care, or treatment.

2. Linguistics A noun or noun phrase identifying one that is acted

upon or undergoes an action. Also called goal.

3. Archaic One who suffers.

cli·ent (klnt)

n.

1. The party for which professional services are rendered, as by an

attorney.

2. A customer or patron: clients of the hotel.

3. A person using the services of a social services agency.

4. One that depends on the protection of another.

5. A client state.

6. Computer Science A computer or program that can download files for

manipulation, run applications, or request application-based services

from a file server.