Healthcare Fraud: Auditing and Detection Guide, 2nd Edition

The Patient

Who Is the Patient?

A patient is any person who receives medical attention or some type of clinical care or treatment, usually from a physician or other type of medical professional. This type of care is often viewed from the illness model perspective, which emphasizes the illness or health crisis rather than prevention. With evolving wellness models that emphasize illness prevention and maintenance of good health, a more appropriate term may be health consumer, healthcare consumer, or client.

According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, the word patient is derived from the Latin word patiens, the present participle of the verb pati, which means “to endure” or “to suffer.” Patient is also the adjective form of patience. Both senses of the word share a common origin.

Traditionally, the term patient has implied a parent/child type of relationship between patient and healthcare provider, one that, in a sense, placed the patient in an inferior position relative to that of the provider. However, the role of the patient is changing. Programs such as consumer-directed health plans rearrange the traditional parent/child relationship and place the patient, renamed the consumer, in the driver’s-seat role in directing healthcare needs. The term consumer also implies a financial relationship as the purchaser of a healthcare service.

A perfect example is from a personal friend who approached me regarding the choice of an obstetrician. “How do I select a doctor who is right ...