PART 1: The controversial, uncertain future of the healthcare ‘consumer’—and why it matters
By Katie Bo Williams
In 2002, when Dr. Adrienne Boissy was an intern at the Cleveland Clinic, she was responsible for a vivacious young woman in her early 20s—not that much younger than Boissy herself. The young woman, a jet-ski instructor named Emily, was bubbly and active, all blonde hair and youthful energy.
Emily (whose name has been changed for this story) arrived at the hospital with some numbness and tingling in her legs. During that first visit, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The clinical team that Boissy was a part of gave Emily the medical run-down:Multiple sclerosis is a chronic demyelinating disease. We’re going to treat you with IV steroids, and that should help you feel better.
The traditional word to describe people like Emily is “patient.” But in the midst of evolving attitudes about how to both provide and pay for healthcare, there are many who would call her a “consumer.” Now the chief experience officer at the Cleveland Clinic, Boissy thinks of her experiences with Emily as a lesson about the assumptions that clinicians have about what patients need from them—but at the time, she found herself unprepared for what happened next.
