We have all heard it, we have probably all said it:

• “My diabetics never follow my instructions”
• “That schizophrenic is back in the hospital again”
• “How should I screen cirrhotics?”
• “Did you hear about my CHF-er?”

It might be easy to say but it certainly isn’t patient-friendly. Patients are people. Sometimes they have diseases or syndromes or symptoms. But diseases shouldn’t describe our patients. Patients are not a disease, and certainly they aren’t the “adjectival” form of the disease (e.g. “diabetic” for the disease diabetes).  Ascribing these words and phrases to people can have a few effects:

• It anchors the doctors and/or the patients on the disease or diagnosis, when the diagnosis may not be correct or complete
• It changes our focus from the person to the disease
• It changes patient perception of the medical profession
• And worst of all…It demeans patients

So let’s think about rephrasing the above:

• “The patients with diabetes in my practice often have difficulty…”
• “The man with schizophrenia we both recently treated has been readmitted.”
• “How should l screen patients who have cirrhosis?”
• “Did you hear about Mrs. X, the patient with CHF I treated last week?”

Yes, it may seem like semantics. Yes, it takes a few extra seconds and a little bit of effort. I’ve personally had to focus on changing my own lexicon and occasionally find myself resorting to my older habits. But if you pay a bit of attention to colleagues from here on out, you might start thinking about how it sounds and try to make the change yourself.