I get to serve on the Prisma Health Baptist Easley Foundation board. We meet onsite at Baptist Easley and each time I pull into the parking lot, the sign “Guest Parking” makes me smile. From 2013-2015, I had the opportunity to work with the primary health system for western North Carolina. We worked through a complete website redesign – and much of that focused on the specific language of the site. The health system’s internal team wanted to transition from using the word “patients” to the word “guests.” Through changing the language associated with patient, now guest, care, they wanted to empower those in their care to reframe their perception of healthcare. While changing words on the website and signage weren’t going to make this miraculously happen, they provided a prominent reminder for both caregivers and care recipients regarding standards of service and active involvement. A step in the right direction.

Lessons Learned:

• Words matter. They’ve been telling us this since elementary school and it’s time we believed it. Words are a seemingly small but powerful starting point.
• Try the weird. When I think “guest,” I think resort – not a hospital. But how nice would it be if when I think “hospital,” I think resort?
• You never know what is going to stick with you from a campaign – and still make you smile years later. The same is true for your customers