consumer

A person who uses, is affected by, is entitled to or is compelled to use a health service.

Note: In the health care field, the term consumer is used mainly in the United States, where there is no universal health insurance system. Elsewhere, patient is often used, but since this word should be applied only to persons who consult a physician, terms such as user, recipient and client are used in the Canadian health system.

Syn.: patient, user, recipient, client