Reframing Healthcare Terminology: Moving Away from Dehumanizing Labels to Support Patient Dignity and Address Health Disparities

Health differences are still a big problem in American medicine. Often, the words used in hospitals and clinics do not match the many kinds of patients and their situations. Some usual terms can make patients feel worse or left out. For example, calling a patient with sickle cell disease a “sickler” can change how doctors see them. Dr. Malika Fair, an emergency doctor, says that such labels can make doctors treat patients unfairly or give lower quality care.

Dr. Fair says it is better to use language that focuses on fairness and respects patients as people. This way, doctors see patients as whole individuals, not just their sickness or life situations. Language can change how doctors make decisions and how patients get involved in their care. When patients feel respected and understood, they trust their doctors more. AMA President Gerald E. Harmon says trust is very important in the patient and doctor relationship.

From “Cultural Competence” to “Cultural Humility”

One big change in healthcare language is moving from saying “cultural competence” to “cultural humility.” “Cultural competence” means knowing a patient’s culture well enough, but it can cause doctors to make wrong guesses or use stereotypes. On the other hand, “cultural humility” means learning all the time. Doctors are asked to think about their own beliefs and listen carefully to patients without judging them first.

This ongoing learning helps doctors better meet the needs of different patients. It means no training or checklist can cover everything about culture. For hospital managers and owners, teaching cultural humility to staff can help improve communication and lower health problems caused by misunderstandings or hidden biases.

Changing Terms to Reflect Respect and Context

The AMA and AAMC guide suggests swapping hurtful or old-fashioned words with ones that respect patients’ lives and social settings. Some changes include:

• Use “groups experiencing disadvantages” or “historically and intentionally excluded” instead of “disadvantaged” or “underserved.” This way, the focus is on system problems, not blaming people.
• Say “formerly incarcerated” instead of “ex-con” or “felon.” This shows respect and helps lower stigma that can hurt health.
• Call immigrants “undocumented” rather than “illegal.” This avoids making immigrants sound like criminals and recognizes the hard times they face getting care.
• For native groups, use “Native Peoples,” “Indigenous Peoples,” or the tribe’s name, not old or general terms like “Indians.” This respects their right to name themselves.
• Replace “minority” or “underrepresented minority” with “historically marginalized,” which points out unfair power and exclusion.
• Swap “noncompliance” with “nonadherence” to show that patients might face social, money, or other problems that affect their treatment, rather than blaming them.

Hospital managers should think about updating patient forms, electronic health records, and teaching materials to use this fair language. This helps patients feel respected and might make care better.

How Dehumanizing Language Impacts Patient Care

Dr. Malika Fair shows how bad language can hurt patient care. Using labels that make patients feel less than human can change how doctors act. This can lead to worse care and keep stigma alive. For example, if patients hear mean names, they might feel unwelcome or not trust doctors. This can cause delays in getting care or not following doctor’s advice.

Language in notes and team talks also matters. Words that are negative or ignore patients can become normal in hospital culture. This can affect how teams judge and treat patients. Being aware of fair language helps fight hidden biases and lowers unfair care differences.

Integrating Equity-Focused Language Into Daily Practice

Changing language means learning all the time. Hospitals in the U.S. must keep training staff and work on improving quality. This is like teaching hand-washing or medicine safety again and again. Repeating these lessons helps make new behavior normal.

Managers and IT staff should help put fair language into daily work by:

• Creating or fixing electronic health record forms with respectful language prompts.
• Making or getting ongoing training about cultural humility for all staff to use.
• Checking clinical notes for hurtful language and giving feedback to improve.
• Making sure patient materials and communication use fair language to build trust before and during care.

Training teams like this can improve talking skills and help patients, especially those who were left out in the past.

AI and Workflow Automation: Supporting Respectful, Efficient Patient Communication

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation tools now help medical offices talk to patients and work better. Some companies, like Simbo AI, use AI to handle phone calls and answering services. This helps health equity and respectful language use.

In busy offices, front desk talk shapes patients’ first feelings about their care. AI answering services can do many tasks like making appointments, sending reminders, and answering common questions using polite and patient-centered words. AI offers consistent respectful words compared to rushed or mixed human responses.

Simbo AI’s system helps managers and IT staff by:

• Reducing phone work for staff so they have more time for patient care and better talks.
• Making patient talk more fair and respectful to meet equity standards.
• Helping with access by quickly routing calls and shortening wait times, which helps patients with little time or resources.
• Giving data from calls to help managers find and fix communication problems or train staff more.

Also, AI systems can be updated as healthcare language changes. This supports cultural humility as a habit across the office. When teams and AI tools always use inclusive language, patients often feel respected even before clinic visits.

Medical leaders in the U.S. can work with AI providers like Simbo AI to make workflows better and keep patient dignity in all communication. These tools can fix workflow issues without lowering respect between patients and staff.

Practical Steps for Healthcare Leaders

For hospital managers, owners, and IT leaders who want to change healthcare words and support patient respect, here are some steps:

• Staff Training on Language Use: Add lessons about fair language and cultural humility to new staff training and ongoing education.
• Language Audit: Check patient forms, notes, brochures, and scripts to find and fix hurtful words.
• Technology Updates: Work with electronic record vendors to customize forms with respectful, person-first words. Use AI phone and messaging systems that match these changes.
• Monitoring and Feedback: Set up ways to watch language in notes and communications. Give helpful feedback and refreshers often.
• Patient Engagement: Ask patients, especially from marginalized groups, about their language preferences so communications feel welcoming.
• Leadership Commitment: Leaders should set a good example by speaking respectfully and showing that fair language is key to better care.

By focusing on respectful, fair language and using tools like workflow automation, medical offices can help lower care differences and improve patient relationships.

This way of using language shows a commitment to treating each patient with respect. It understands history and social situations that affect health. It also uses technology well to support these goals. As health fairness becomes more important in U.S. care, the words chosen by doctors and systems will help build places where all patients feel valued and respected.