People’s experience with healthcare is variable, sometimes outstanding, too often poor.

When accessing care, people frequently encounter chaos: fragmented processes, impersonal interactions and burdensome tasks. Coordinating their care can feel less like a thoughtfully designed journey and more like a scavenger hunt, leaving individuals confused and unsupported. When receiving care, many patients report feeling disrespected, unheard and fearful because they do not understand their disease or how to care for themselves once they leave the hospital.

As health systems compete for business and other industries provide better material experiences, healthcare leaders have renewed their focus on improving both the customer and the patient experience. Yet there is limited discussion about the difference between the patient vs. customer, how they shape behaviors or when to use each term. Words matter. Caregivers relate differently to a patient versus a customer, and these differences influence how care is delivered.

In this essay, we explore the distinctions between patient and customer, when each should be used, and propose a human-centered approach to guide thoughtful and intentional interactions with all individuals.

Understanding the core conceptual distinctions

The differentiation between patient experience and customer experience is essential to understand how people engage with healthcare. Though the two concepts are sometimes used interchangeably, they are rooted in distinct needs, emotional states and moral obligations.

A Beryl Institute report describes that, when people are patients, the three most important factors influencing a positive patient experience are feeling their health and well-being truly matter, knowing their physical needs are taken seriously, and understanding that positive care experiences directly contribute to better health and healthcare outcomes.

Notably, being treated “as a customer” ranked lowest among patient priorities.

The noun, patient, originally meant ‘one who suffers,’ coming from the Latin word “patior,” which means ‘I am suffering.’ The term reflects vulnerability. People become patients when they require healing or are frightened or uncertain about an illness. Their experiences are shaped by a search for safety, compassion, clear communication and dignity. Clinicians and other healthcare staff respond to these needs through their caregiver role, displaying empathy, presence and technical skills.

The term customer, by contrast, emerges in contexts when individuals exercise choice and autonomy. In healthcare, this translates to scheduling an appointment, accessing a portal, comparing services or paying a bill. In these moments, people expect convenience, reliability, transparency and control. These expectations mirror those shaped by other industries such as Apple or Amazon that have optimized ease and personalization.

Table 1 summarizes these differences across five key dimensions: primary context, core focus, power dynamics, outcome measures and moral frame.

Table 1. Comparison of Patient Experience and Customer Experience

Dimension	Patient Experience	Customer Experience
Primary Context	Moments of illness andvulnerability.	Moments of choice and agency.
Core Focus	Compassion, safety,emotional presence.	Reliability, efficiency, personalization.
Power Dynamics	Asymmetric — clinicians hold expertise.	Individuals hold power through direct interaction.
Outcome Measures	Healing, trust, well-being.	Satisfaction, ease, perceived value.
Moral Frame	“Do no harm” — relational and protective.	“Deliver value” — designed and accountable.

Table 2 summarizes the benefits and risks associated with each term.

Table 2. Benefits and Risks of Using Each Term

Term	Benefits	Risks
Patient	Evokes compassionReinforces dignityStrengthens healing relationships	May imply passivityCan reduce agencyRisks paternalism
Customer	Elevates expectationsDrives efficiency and accessImproves reliability	May commodify careCan flatten moral dimensionsMay create transactional expectations

A framework for choosing the appropriate term

The choice between the terms patient and customer should reflect the individual’s emotional and functional reality at the moment. People shift between vulnerability and agency as they move through the healthcare system, and the language we use should shift accordingly.

Table 3 provides a structured guide for when to use each term.

Table 3. Framework for Choosing the Appropriate Term

Context	Preferred Term	Rationale
Clinical care (diagnosis, treatment, recovery)	Patient	The individual is vulnerable and needs compassion, safety and healing.
Service interactions (scheduling, access, billing)	Customer	The individual is exercising agency and deserves efficiency and transparency.

A unifying human-centered concept

Ultimately, people are not simply patients or customers. They are sometimes vulnerable patients, sometimes empowered customers, both always deserving of dignity. A unifying and more complete perspective would see every individual as both worthy of compassion and capable of partnership.

The distinctions between “patient” and “customer” shape how caregivers engage, how processes are designed and how expectations are met. When we refer to someone as a patient, we acknowledge their vulnerability and commit to compassion, presence and safety. When we refer to someone as a customer, we commit to clarity, choice and reliability.

These words intersect constantly when people access care. For instance, a person scheduling a follow-up appointment is a customer navigating logistics and simultaneously a patient who may be anxious about their health. People move between vulnerability and agency in fluid and personal ways. Our systems must honor both realities.

This is why it is crucial to integrate patient experience and customer experience. The best care is provided when we combine the compassion expected in patient experience with the efficiency and reliability expected in customer experience. People do not separate these expectations, and neither should we.

Every person deserves the emotional safety we promise our patients and the clarity and ease we owe our customers, elevating the standard of service at every touchpoint. It calls us to design seamless processes, honor human experiences and support every caregiver in recognizing their essential role in both healing and service.

What many people experience now when seeking care is more like going on a scavenger hunt than walking along a well-marked trail. People want simplicity, dignity and guidance.

A unified human-centered model challenges us to view each person as deserving of compassion and capable of partnership. When we design for both, we deliver care that is efficient, reliable and deeply human. We create a system where individuals feel safe, empowered and valued from the moment they engage with us. Ultimately, we build a healthcare experience that reflects our highest purpose: to support humanity in moments of both need and strength.

This integrative lens allows healthcare organizations to bring together the best of both frames: the empathy and safety of the patient experience with the reliability and responsiveness of the customer experience.

When we see people as worthy and capable, we design systems that honor both their humanity and their expectations, advancing care that is both healing and excellent. Whether a customer or patient, people experience need care as both. Dr. Francis Weld Peabody understood this when he wrote his 1927 JAMA article, The Care of the Patient, and stated “…the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.”

Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhD, FCCM, Chief Quality & Clinical Transformation Officer and Veale Distinguished Chair in Leadership and Clinical Transformation, University Hospitals, Cleveland.

Jennifer N. Lorenz, DNP, RN, CPXP, Fred C. Rothstein, MD, Chief Experience Officer, University Hospitals, Cleveland.

Lisa E. Griffin, MBA, CCCM, Chief Consumer Officer, University Hospitals, Cleveland.

The post Words matter: Reframing patient and customer experience to advance healing and service appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.