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A patient is any person who receives medical attention, care, or treatment. The person is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician or other medical professional, although one who is visiting a physician for a routine check-up may also be viewed as a patient. Due to concerns such as dignity, human rights and political correctness, the term patient is not always used to refer to a person receiving health care. Other terms that are sometimes used include health consumer, health care consumer or client. These may be used by governmental agencies, insurance companies, "patient" groups, or health care facilities (who may object to some implications of the word patient). Individuals who use or have used psychiatric services, which may or may not have been by force against their will, may alternatively refer to themselves as Consumers (Users in the UK) or Survivors. Some argue that it can be necessary to be a "bad" "noncompliant" patient in order to recover.[1] In nursing homes and assisted living facilities, the term resident is generally used in lieu of patient[2]. But it is not uncommon for staff members at such a facility to incorrectly use the term patient in reference to residents. Similarly, those receiving home health care are called clients. Patient is derived from the Latin word patiens, the present participle of the deponent verb pati, meaning "one who endures" or "one who suffers". Patient is also the adjective form of patience. Both senses of the word share a common origin.
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