MedTech Language: Patient, Customer, or Partner?

October 27, 2025 ░░░░░░

#430 MedTech Language Patient, Customer, or Partner

In this episode, host Etienne Nichols and guest Dr. Allison Komiyama, CEO and Founder of Blue Stocking Health, dive into a fascinating dialogue about the language used in healthcare and MedTech, particularly the terms patient, customer, and user. They explore how these words influence the perception of care, service, and the entire medical device development process. The conversation touches on the friction and inefficiencies that arise when the relationship dynamic is unclear, highlighting the different nuances between passively receiving treatment and being an active consumer of health services.

The discussion delves into the historical context of the word "patient," which is rooted in the Latin patior, meaning 'to suffer.' Dr. Komiyama shares insights from industry conferences, noting that many individuals prefer to be called a "person" or an "empowered patient" rather than a passive sufferer. This ties directly into the growing movement of individuals seeking to own their health and be active participants in their care, fueled by readily available information and a focus on health span over just disease treatment.

Ultimately, the key takeaway for MedTech innovators is the importance of understanding their end-user and tailoring their language—in labeling, clinical studies, and human factors testing—to align with the user's preferred terminology. The shift from "caregiver" to "care partner" is highlighted as a prime example of evolving language that acknowledges a collaborative, mutual relationship, moving away from a hierarchical structure to one of shared purpose.

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Key timestamps

[0:01:25] - Introduction to Dr. Allison Komiyama and Blue Stocking Health's mission to amplify the good of MedTech.
[0:04:14] - Discussion begins: Patient vs. Customer vs. User in MedTech.
[0:06:05] - The etymology of "patient" (patior, to suffer) and the push for "person" or "empowered patient."
[0:08:22] - Historical context: Passivity of the patient role and the doctor's assumed knowledge.
[0:09:50] - The impact of consumerism, AI, and the "health span" movement on patient empowerment.
[0:12:35] - The value of seeking multiple opinions and the role of patient priorities in customizing care.
[0:15:30] - Shifting terminology: Why "caregiver" is moving toward "care partner."
[0:18:22] - How language diversity enriches the conversation and enhances communication.
[0:21:00] - Tying diverse language use to MedTech innovation and product development.
[0:22:15] - The importance of understanding end-user biases and assumptions in MedTech.
[0:24:25] - Impactful personal stories: How specific interactions define a positive care experience.
[0:29:10] - Concluding thoughts: Why plurality and qualifiers (e.g., "empowered patient") may be the ideal goal.

Top takeaways from this episode

Regulatory & Clinical Strategy: When defining the target population for your device—in 510k, IDE, or PMA submissions—be mindful of the terminology. Consider using terms like "end-user," "person living with [condition]," or "care partner" alongside "patient" to reflect a modern, inclusive understanding of the device's human context.
Human Factors & Usability: Language directly impacts product use. As an R&D or Human Factors professional, align your labeling and instructions with the language that resonates most with your defined user group. Utilizing terms like "care partner" for non-professional support ensures that instructions for use are mutually supportive and not hierarchical.
Marketing & Communication: MedTech companies should audit their external communications, including advertisements and white papers. A focus on "customer service" aspects (efficiency, speed, clear communication) can resonate more with the consumer/customer mindset than traditional "patient" messaging, provided it is balanced with clinical integrity.
Quality Management Systems (QMS) & Design Input: Use diverse language during design input collection to capture a broader range of needs. Focus groups that employ words like "user experience" and "customer journey" often uncover different, yet equally critical, insights compared to those solely focused on "patient safety" and "treatment protocol." Greenlight Guru's QMS and EDC solutions help capture and manage these diverse inputs effectively, ensuring alignment with both clinical and user needs.
Professional Dialogue: Embrace "strong opinions held loosely." MedTech leaders should cultivate internal and external dialogues that challenge existing assumptions about user terminology. A willingness to be corrected is key to identifying blind spots in product development and market strategy.

References:

Dr. Allison Komiyama's LinkedIn
Etienne Nichols' LinkedIn: Connect with Etienne
Blue Stocking Health: A company dedicated to redefining and amplifying the conversation around medical technologies.
The Media Bias Chart / Ad Fontes Media (Vanessa Otero): Mentioned in the episode as an example of thoughtful dialogue and understanding different perspectives.

MedTech 101 Section

Caregiver vs. Care Partner

When the U.S. government shuts down, it means Congress hasn't passed a budget, and non-essential federal agencies must pause most operations because their taxpayer funding stops. However, the FDA has a financial safety net for its medical device work: User Fees, authorized by the Medical Device User Fee Amendments (MDUFA).

Think of MDUFA as a dedicated savings account funded by MedTech companies. When a company submits a major application like a 510(k) or PMA, they pay a fee. This money goes into a separate reserve. When a government shutdown happens, the FDA can tap into this reserve to keep essential, MDUFA-related work going. This includes the salaries of reviewers who are already working on your application, ongoing post-market surveillance, and crucial safety functions. The money acts as a buffer, allowing the FDA to continue its core mission for a limited time, which is why existing reviews aren't immediately halted. New submissions, however, often can't be processed because that intake and processing function is deemed non-essential and is not typically covered by the emergency user fee funding.

Memorable quotes from this episode

"I think there's a lot of folks at FDA even that we're like, we don't want to use the word patient. We want to use the word person. And patient actually comes from the term patior, which means to suffer." - Dr. Allison Komiyama

Feedback Call-to-Action

We want to hear from you! Do you prefer to be called a patient, a customer, or a partner in your health journey? Your feedback drives our content and helps us bring the most relevant topics to the MedTech industry. Send your thoughts, episode reviews, and topic suggestions directly to us at podcast@greenlight.guru. We read every email and aim to offer personalized responses.

Transcript

Etienne Nichols: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Global Medical Device Podcast. My name is Etienne Nichols. I'm the host for today's episode.

Today, I want to explore a little bit about words and how words matter particular, particularly patient and customer. Are you a patient or a customer? The language used by healthcare, it's. It often explains why getting simple, efficient service me feels nearly impossible. We're diving into the staggering friction and a lot of inefficiencies that when systems. For you're a consumer of a service, things change a little bit.

For example, if you drive 45 minutes, 30 minutes, you wait, you. You spend hours of your time waiting for a certain service, but then you don't get the service you're after.

There's some. There's some different nuances there. We can talk about a little bit about that. I. I want to dive into that a little bit, a little bit later. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

My guest today is Dr. Allison Komiyama, PhD. She's experienced some different frustrations herself, and she also has a lot of strong opinions, some that we may be on the same page with, some we may not be, but. Alison Komiyama is the CEO and founder of Bluestocking Health, a company dedicated to redefining the conversation around medical technologies, including devices, digital health, IVD.

She's also a board advisor for Indie MedTech, a community for independent MedTech professionals. And Komiyama's extensive background is rooted in regulatory affairs, including a tenure as a biologist reviewer at the FDA where she reviewed orthopedic devices, consulted on biocompatibility, and prior to founding Bluestocking Health, she served as the VP of MedTech Innovation at RQM plus and was the principal consultant of her own firm, which was later acquired. Acknowledged regulatory strategies, where she focused on developing marketing strategies and preparing regulatory submissions. 510(k) IDE PMAs for a diverse range of medical device companies globally. I'll stop.

Where did I. What did I miss? Anything I need to fill in there? Allison, how you doing?

Dr. Allison Komiyama: You miss that? I am an avid face painter, and I've really gotten into propagating houseplants recently, so. Hey, maybe there'll be more videos on my.

Etienne Nichols: Okay. And if you don't follow Alison on LinkedIn, you need to. My kids even follow you. They love face painting video. Not gonna lie. They really did like that.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: I had my first gig recently.

My friend invited me to her kid's birthday party to do face painting. And I had so much fun. Some kid came up though, and was like, can you do an axolotl?

And I was like, yeah, I can. I've never done that before, but here we go. And it was.

Maybe I'll put a picture.

Etienne Nichols: I don't know what it is about the axolotl. A friend of mine just got one of.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Anyway, they're so cute. Oh, my gosh, I'm a big fan. Anyway, we're not here to talk about axolotls. We're here to talk about words and how.

Etienne Nichols: Let's talk about words.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Let's talk about words. Actually, can I say that this topic is actually kind of your fault in a good way, that there was like a post that you had put up and it was like an experience that you had, and then you asked a question about, you know, what are the words that we should be using? And it was such a thoughtful dialogue. I love the things that you post too. If you're not following, you know, Etienne Nichols on LinkedIn, you should be, because it was like people were chiming in. And I took that conversation of like patient versus caregiver versus or patient versus user versus customer and customer service and all these different words, and I took it to actually MedTech conference and I asked it at a, like a patient advocacy panel.

Fascinating. Like the responses we got back. And so, I'm really glad that you and I get to kind of continue this conversation because I think it's a really interesting one.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah. And maybe before we get into the conversation, this is going to be a little bit meta. I know. You are Bluestocking Health. I sort of, sort of glossed over that a little bit. Do you want to talk a little bit about what that is?

Because that really is something more about bringing the conversation to MedTech. So why don't you tell us just a little bit about that too, before we get too. Too far?

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yeah, no, I'd love to. And it's also bringing the conversation, MedTech and the med tech into the conversation. I kind of see this.

It's been a, like this thought in the back of my mind for a long time of I when people would ask me, like, what do you do?

And you know, an easy way would be, I help medical device companies get through FDA. That was like an easy few words and people understood it, you know, and then I started, they were like, but what does that mean?

And so, I Started saying, okay, give me a disease and like, tell me a disease that's either impacted your life or that one that like you've been dealing with a family member recently.

And so, they would, you know, they would say asthma or breast cancer or, you know, they'd, they'd bring something up and then I'd say, let me tell you about the five recent devices that have just come out that help diagnose or help with the removal of breast cancer tissue.

Or like, it was the conversation of like, people didn't know a lot about the technologies that were available for these specific diseases or for a condition that they were dealing with. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is a conversation that people need to know more about.

Like, I think there's so many commercials about ask your doctor about this pharmaceutical. And I'm like, nobody says, like, you should ask your doctor about this medical device that actually could improve your quality of life.

And so, my mantra is like, let's talk about it. Let's talk about all the good that MedTech does.

It's not to deny that there's bad, that there's risk, that there's things that can happen because of medical technology. There's a lot, you know, someone told me recently, like, if it bleeds, it reads right or something.

Like, yeah, they want all the drama. I'm like, but there's a lot of good.

So maybe we can, you know, shine a little bit of a light on that. And that's what I plan to do with Bluestocking Health.

Etienne Nichols: I love that. And I also will say it's not taking anything away from the doctors and their, their immense amount of knowledge. They can't keep up with all the devices that are out there.

If something's affecting you, then you're going to be hyper obsessed about that one thing. So, I think it's perfectly justifiable to bring up some of those devices to those doctors.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yeah, and actually there's, I have a few doctors, medical doctors on my advisory board, which is an amazing advisory board.

And they've been also chiming in about like, how do we empower patients or how do we get the folks that are coming into their practice into their office to ask more, you know, just educated questions or things that like, things that they need to know. Oftentimes you leave the hospital, or you leave the doctor's office and you're like, oh man, I really wish I had asked this.

And so, what are the ways that we actually get people thinking about it and talking about it ahead of Time so that you're an empowered patient.

So.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah.

Okay, well, let's jump into the conversation today. You already mentioned some doctors that are on your advisory board. Do you work closely with innovators? Obviously, so many of them. How do you personally decide which term to use?

Patient or customer or any other word that you want to pick out? What. How do you feel about those?

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Sure. I think it's. Oh, I'm going to say it. I'm going to say it. It depends. I, you know.

Etienne Nichols: It’s about to happen.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: It's about to happen. It's just part of. It's like, in my brain, you know, I think there's a lot of folks at FDA even that we're like, we don't want to use the word patient. We want to use the per. The word person.

And patient actually comes from the term patior, which means to suffer.

And I think a lot of folks will look at the word patient and see I'm not a. I'm not a sufferer or I'm not suffering with this disease. I am living with this disease.

I am not a passive person being treated. I am an active person in my care. And so, I think it's very important to talk to the person who is dealing with whatever condition or disease or, you know, what do they want to be called? Right. I think it's. It's very much like, what does that person prefer?

And one of the comments, actually, that came up at AdvaMed was a woman got up and said, oh, to the, you know, the comment earlier that was asked, I am. I. I relate to the word patient. She's like, I am a patient living with my disease, but I am absolutely not suffering. Like, she is living and managing. And so, I think it's. Words matter, but it really comes down to, like, what does a person want to be called? Right.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: I think patient.

For me, I feel like I'm a patient. I. I do have asthma. Like, I have eczema. Like, I have so many. And I am a patient that's getting treatment for those various things.

But there are other people that really. I am a person. I want to be, you know, in control of that word or what the doctors are calling me or what my friends and loved ones are calling me.

Etienne Nichols: There's a historical view that I feel like. And I'm curious. I want to get your take on this.

It feels as though the word patient has been somewhat passive and that I feel like it may come from a historical use of the expectation that a doctor knows more than I do and as a general rule that's probably true in, in a lot of different realms, so so much more.

But and the other thing is the, with that is the assumption that their goal is the same as the patients, that we both have the same goal.

And as a general rule I would expect that to be true as well. However, I'm curious if, if that has evolved slightly where we have something of a convergence of all the data in the world now that is now being kind of funneled through AI to, to, to put that information at the tips of the fingers of those patients.

And now they're more informed ever than ever before on a lot of different things.

And not only that, they also have the desire to own their health and hone. Own their outcomes a little bit more. Peter Attia's book outlive being one of the, you know, the, the New York Times bestsellers on the whole health span idea has caused people to want to move past just fixing broken parts of themselves and to really maintaining, you know, a high quality of life for a longer period. So, I do wonder if there's been a little bit of a shift and I'm curious if in your mind why this debate has come up because I do feel like it has come up a little bit more than here lately.

Customer and customer service when it comes to health care. Any thoughts there?

Dr. Allison Komiyama: I think some of it has to do with, you know, the healthcare system and how it's designed. Right. Of the payers and you are a lot of patients where people will feel that hey, this is something I'm paying for.

I, I demand good customer service. Right. Like I, I demand to get doctors that are really, you know, thinking about me and have the same goals that I do.

I think one of the key parts about care is really, you know, because, and doctors are trained. They go through a lot of schooling. They go through a lot of education, and they refine their practice right after the main part of medical school in order to get really a strong expertise in a certain area.

So, you're absolutely right. Like you'd hope that they'd have, you know, that they'd really know what you're like a dermatologist. I, I'm not going to go see a pulmonologist to, for my, my mole.

Right like that. I'm like, maybe they know something. But still, I think part of it is.

And, and you brought up AI as well. I think a lot of folks will do their own research and I do my own research. I think all of us are entitled to like go online or read or try to find out more information about something that we're dealing with, either with a loved one or ourselves.

And even FDA asks for multiple opinions, right? So usually when they have a reader study or there's something that they're evaluating the safety and effectiveness of a device or even an AI device, they usually want, you know, maybe three physicians that are reading the output of the device or, you know, two, and then maybe an adjudicator, like, and so what's. What's the issue with saying, all right, I've talked to my doctor, and maybe getting a second opinion, maybe getting a third opinion. Like, sometimes that's very challenging. I understand it's like a luxury to be like, I'm gonna go talk to a lot of doctors, when sometimes it's like, I really need to take care of this asap.

Right.

But even if there is a way to seek another opinion, it's also getting your physician or who. Your primary care physician or whatever expert you're seeing or what is it?

Not the.

Not the expert doctor. I'm, like, losing. Now. My language is specialist. Specialist.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah. Words. I don't know.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: I haven't had enough coffee. But, like, really getting them to understand, like, what are the things that matter to you because they're going to treat you like, this is how I was trained in medical school.

This is. These are the things that I would do if I were in your position. But they also come to the table with their own biases. We all have our own biases.

If someone's, like, not biased, I'm like, yeah, no, that's not true. Like, everyone rocks up with their set of biases. So even if you say, listen, I'm this old. These are the things that are important to me. Like, these. I actually, I do want to stay independent, or I take care of my grandkids, you know, twice a week. I really want to not be in pain, or I want to not be, you know, having to sit down, all that. Those are all really important things of, like, outlining your priorities and really helping your caregiver, your physician, your specialist to understand what are the priorities that you have, because that may change also the care that you get.

So, I think there's. Anyway, that was a really long answer to your.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Question. But there's so much in there.

Etienne Nichols: No, it's true. It's. It is interesting how. I mean, I don't think you should ever turn your brain off and just let. Let go of the reins.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yeah.

Etienne Nichols: Funny story. I. I remember I had Spritz surgery last year and remember that you being in a boot.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: That's right.

Etienne Nichols: At LSI, I forgot about it. Well, so I went through the, the X rays and they give you the lead to wear, you know, and when I had a follow up, they didn't give me the lead for my, you know, midsection, you know, area.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yeah.

Etienne Nichols: And I said, hey, you know, last time, how come I don't have this, this lead thing there then? And they just said, oh, we don't, we don't really give the lead protection there.

I passed childbearing age, and I was like, I have a six-month-old home. It's okay, you know, what are you talking about? But no, it was just, it was the funniest thing.

Doesn't matter.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: You need to stop having.

Etienne Nichols: I think that was the little hint they were giving me.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: But I think it's good to advocate for yourself then too. Like. No, I prefer to have it like you could.

Like those are things that like, you should absolutely feel empowered. So, I guess back to the word patient. Like you can be a patient, you can be a person, a customer, but you can also have adjectives prior to those things.

I can be an empowered patient. I can be a patient advocate. I can be like, there's certain things that, that can define or expand on those words as well. Yeah.

Etienne Nichols: And I really like that too because I think I have a tendency to be a little more black and white than I need to be.

I think when I wrote that post I thought, oh, it's customer service. We need more customer service and healthcare.

But there is a lot of room for, for, for patients and to be a patient. And, and there are a lot of times when customer service just does not make sense.

If you're in an ER at 3am and you have someone with a gunshot wound, hey, we're taking care of business, and it does not matter what you want.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: I was here first. Yeah, no, please take care of that person with a gunshot wound.

Etienne Nichols: But yeah, you know, I, I try to be just. Why, I'm really thankful that you brought up this conversation again to enlighten me as well, to kind of broaden my, my thinking.

One of the, one of the other words that you brought up, you mentioned seeing a shift from caregiver to care partner. What's behind that change? Can you expound on that?

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yeah, I, I, there was AdvaMed and then there was RAPS. They were like back-to-back this year and at wraps they had a really great presentation with the Michael J. Fox foundation representative as well as a couple.

And the woman had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and I think she had been living with it for almost 20 years. And then her husband was on the stage as well.

And it was fascinating just to, like, they were riffing off each other. They were having fun. Like, he. I think he was a writer for Seinfeld. Like, they were just so awesome.

Like, just really fun to listen to, but also had such insightful things to say, of course.

And one of the things that he brought up was he said, you know, I call myself a care partner, because when I kept saying, I'm a caregiver, I'm a caregiver.

And his wife was like, yeah, but, like, a caretaker is like, somebody who goes and, like, rakes outside or, like, you know, waters the property, waters the plants. She's like, I'm not a caretaker.

I'm not taking from you. I want to be a partner with you. And so, I think it also just spoke to what worked for them. Right. Like, they were. They were care partners.

They were in this together.

And I think, again, it's one of those things.

Oftentimes we'll have caregiver. If we're submitting something to FDA, we'll say, here's the. The definition of the caregiver. Or if it's a parent. Right. Or a guardian of a child will often use caregiver.

But I also like the term care partner. And I think it's just language. I mean, there's not just one word for almost anything. Right. So, I think even having the diversity of words that we can choose from that make us feel most comfortable is maybe the most important.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yeah.

Etienne Nichols: I.

Someone described language to me once as kind of like a parade. And you can stand back on the sidelines, and you can watch it go past you, and you're like, oh, this word used to mean this or whatever, and.

Or you can get in the parade and kind of live it out. And.

And one more cliche I guess I'll use is one of the big. One of the worst things about communication is the assumption that it has happened. And I think the right word for the right time makes a lot of sense, so.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Absolutely. And I think that.

I think also having a lot of words at our. At our disposal only makes the conversations richer as well. Right. I think my husband said when he came to the U.S., he's from Japan, and he came for graduate school, and he said for.

For a few months, like, all of his emotions kind of became very simplified, and it's fascinating to hear him talk about, you know, he's like, I didn't have many words or frustrated or he's like, I was happy, I was sad, I was lonely. But he only had, you know, like very few words to describe in English how he was feeling. Of course, his English is, was amazing, you know, and he, he learned very quickly. But having the richness of more words to describe his emotions and to be able to communicate with people really allowed him to feel more confident, more present and just more of, more like himself.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: So.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah, that's crazy. So, you're tickling the brain. The, the, some memory of mine. Alexithymia, I think it's alexithymia, the inability to describe emotions.

And it's not a personality disorder, but it's a, it. It's actually something where if you give the person the right vocabulary to describe the emotion, they're feeling it submit, they can process the emotion much better.

That's an interesting thing.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Oh, interesting.

Etienne Nichols: Anyway.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yeah.

Oh my gosh. Can we do it? Like we need to do like a blog post about that or something? That's fascinating. I bet.

Yeah. Maybe that'll be my dinner conversation with my husband tonight because both of, he and I are both neuroscientists. He stayed in the academic path and I kind of went, you know, industry direction, but.

Oh, that'll be a fun conversation.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah. So maybe, maybe entering a new, A new language gives you acute alexithymia for just a moment. But I'm curious, how do we tie this to a MedTech innovator who's bringing a medical device to market? How do you think they can use the different words like this to their advantage?

For or for the patient's advantage, for the user's advantage. What are the benefits of utilizing this diversity of language?

Dr. Allison Komiyama: I think that's a great question.

I think a lot of it has to do with knowing your end user, whether that be a caregiver or a care partner or is it the patient or is it a parent? And how do we, how do we make sure that the labeling and the way that we're designing clinical studies and the way that we're thinking about our use related risk assessments, when it comes to like human factors or usability testing, all of those things matter. When you're thinking about who is going to be using this and interacting with it and what is, you know, what are some of the preferred terms that they would like to use?

Because. And sometimes it's very disease specific. Right. Like there may be certain populations that don't Want to be called patient or, you know, like, I, I know there's a.

Not an argument, but there's like, definitely a dialogue going online about, you know, losing a battle with cancer or, you know, people say saying, you fought harder.

Yeah, exactly. And so, I think even just like, understanding the conversation, one of my, One of my advisors, Vanessa Otero, she is the founder of the Media Bias Chart and like, the ad fonts media. And she's so, like, she and I got to talking this a couple months ago, and even her comment of, like, you know, people oftentimes will just, you know, put stuff on LinkedIn or they'll ask things that they only want to get maybe a specific response to.

And it's about audience capture and how do you get more of, like, people really clicking and liking your…your content.

And she said, but the best posts that she puts out, she's like, are the ones that really start thoughtful dialogue. And it's maybe not like fighting, you know, like, you don't want people being rude to each other online.

But she's like, I love it when there's two very different thoughts or people are actually having a conversation within the comments or they take it to, you know, or they have another, like, they start to do a podcast about it to talk about the, the topics.

She's like, because that's where your opinions are, where you can actually get more information about, like, huh. I didn't think about it that way. And I think that's back to your question of, like, how do MedTech innovators and entrepreneurs and folks think about the conversation?

It's like, maybe my assumption or my biases or the things that I think are that I hold as true or are true, but maybe there's another truth and I should maybe try and consider what other people are thinking about and what they're talking about.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah, I think that's a good way to look at it. Two things can be true, that's for sure.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Be the best of times, it could be the worst of times, you know, sometimes.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah. And it usually is.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Usually, the goal is to not stay in one or the other. You know, definitely. Like, you know, let's talk about it. Yeah.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah. I love; I love that phrase. It's something.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: What is it?

Etienne Nichols: Strong opinions held loosely.

So, I like to talk to people who disagree with me, and if they can change my mind, I feel like, hey, you've helped me out. If you've changed my mind, you know, you've been like, I.

I've come to realize that you may think you know so many things, but with so many other people in the world, there's a good chance there's a better way.

So, I'm always thankful when people are willing to show that way.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yeah.

Etienne Nichols: How do you think the language around these relationships? We talked a little bit about how it influences how we treat one another.

Do you think it changes the way the care is provided at times?

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Oh, I, I absolutely does. I think it's.

And I think people will walk away from a interaction or. I mean, I think back to your story that you posted on LinkedIn. Right. Like, I think there's situations that maybe didn't sit well with us or things that might or things that did.

Right. Sometimes you're like, wow, that really felt good. And I didn't realize that that was an option. And I think having just being honest with ourselves, like, honestly, sometimes it's just like, okay, that didn't feel good. Why didn't that feel good? And I'm a daughter of a family therapist, and it was oftentimes, if something stings or something hurts or something is bothering you, what. What is. What truth is there to what was said that is sitting with you? Or is there something. Is there not truth to it and that you have to figure out, like, what are the ways that I'm going to address that? Or as I move forward, what are the ways that I'm not gonna allow that to happen to me again? Right.

Or like, what are the, the. What are the words that I can now empower myself with? So, if that does happen again, what are the things that I can respond with?

Etienne Nichols: Right.

Yeah.

When I got a little distracted when you said, or a good. Or good interaction with healthcare or whatever, because I was remembering, I thought, huh, what. What's a really good interaction I had? And I, I remember one, and I'll just say it because I don't know if it's helpful or not, but when my last baby was being delivered, my wife was in labor.

And I don't want to go into too much detail publicly, of course, but she was grabbing onto my arm as at the. Some of the worst moments. And the nurse came over to do something because my wife has a pacemaker, and so she gets special care during those situations and so on.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yeah.

Etienne Nichols: And I was, I was trying to get out of the way. So, the nurse kicks in there. I said, here, I'm sorry. I was like, as the husband, I feel like the least important person in that room in that moment with all the other people doing their thing.

And I said, I'm sorry, I'll get out of the way here. And she said, no, you are exactly where I want you right now. I'm like, okay.

And I mean, I knew that's what my wife wanted, but I, you know, anybody else, I don't know, I'll do whatever you want me to do in that moment, because I, Yeah, but that was a really interesting interaction that I had.

And, and I don't know that we think about some of the ancillary people in a room, in a situation as we're building out our devices that may apply to these different unique situations.

I thought that was just an interesting.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Oh, it's so. Yeah. And I think it; it takes a village. Even in that delivery room or even in the care team. You know, I, I recently had a, like a similar situation where. Totally not similar at all, actually, but, but it's, it tickled a part of my brain that I was like the good experience that I had on a telemedicine phone call. Like, I had to talk to an allergist because again, I've had asthma, I had this chronic cough that I've been dealing with.

And I, I, my primary care physician was like, I want to have you talk to this allergist. But, and when they set up the appointment, you know, someone called me, said, we're going to set this appointment.

It's going to be a 30-minute phone call because before you come in, we need to have the phone call. And I was like, oh my gosh, like, what are we gonna get in 30 minutes on a phone call about something that I need to be there in person. Like, I was just gonna.

Anyway, this doctor calls me, you know, they're like, sit by the phone.

Called me right on time.

And he asked me such thoughtful, careful questions. He heard everything I had to say.

He didn't.

And I was like, okay, this is gonna sound stupid, but. And, and then I would say it and he's like, that's not stupid at all. That's really, that's actually super helpful because.

And then he would follow up with the next question, and it was. So, when I got off that phone call, I had a diagnosis for my chronic cough and a way to treat it.

And I was just like; I can't thank you enough. Like, I, I had so many assumptions and my biases walking into the phone call, you know, in my living room, like, this is not going to be useful.

And I walked out thinking, like, like, I need to maybe walk in with a little bit more of an open mind. And also, I was just so thankful to him. I was like, you change.

You changed my life today. Like, I can't thank you enough.

And so, I think having even just those moments of, like, you're exactly where you need to be and maybe there is a reason for why, you know, like, why you needed to be standing next to your wife. Like, she needed you in that moment, you know, or like, I love those positive stories are one of the other things that I'm really trying to amplify on Bluestocking Health. Because I feel like too often, we talk about the negative, and we should, but we also need to talk about what are the good things that happen to us today.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah, a hundred percent.

I'm curious if you think we'll ever land on a. I don't know a single term for some of these things. Or maybe it's. Maybe the solution is, like, you're saying, where we qualify it, like an empowered patient or so on.

Any.

Any thoughts?

Or maybe plurality is the goal. I'm not sure I can say that word.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Yeah, I don't think there's ever one word that's going to define any one person or anyone feeling. Right. Like, I think having the qualifiers giving us maybe more qualifiers. Maybe that's the answer.

Right. Of just like, here are the various things that I'm experiencing today. Like, my. My daughter on her wall has, like, Mr. Potato Head grid, and it's like all the Mr. Potato Heads and, like, one's like grumpy and once.

And it's like a lot of different emotions that Mr. Potato Head is feeling. And she'll put the little red ring around. Today I'm feeling dissatisfied or. Yeah, well, she's the youngest.

She definitely feels like she has. She has a lot of emotions, so we try to name them in order to give her the tools so she can express how she's feeling.

And I think that's. That's kind of what we need to do for health, the healthcare system.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah, that's cool.

If there was one takeaway that you would want those listening to take away or a piece of advice or whatever it is. What. What would that be, do you think?

Dr. Allison Komiyama: Watch this podcast. No, I'm just kidding.

I think that there's no one correct word. Right. Like, I hope that people didn't start watching this podcast thinking like, oh, we're gonna. This is gonna. We're finally gonna figure it out.

And if anything, it's that there is no one correct. A hundred percent. Right word. That language evolves as our Understanding of the language evolves. And I think whatever you want to call yourself and how you want to identify is really the way that we respect each other.

Yeah.

Etienne Nichols: Yeah. And I think for a MedTech innovator, really knowing that and really having a good handle on what this person needs in this moment, whether it's. And I, I, you know, I don't want to keep belaboring this, but if I go back to the different scenarios where one might be an emergent situation and one might be a.

I want to improve my life. And, and so those are going to be probably handled slightly differently.

And I think maybe the MedTech innovators who recognize that might be ones who are going to be a little bit more cognizant, maybe the ones who win a little bit more.

Dr. Allison Komiyama: So, I love that. Yeah. I mean, words can be limiting. They can make you feel small, or they can make you feel sort of like limited, but they can also be liberating.

And I think the companies that are open minded to that and open to learning more about the populations that they're aiming to serve or improve quality of life are going to be the ones that win.

Etienne Nichols: Nice.

That was a mic drop right there. Limiting or liberating.

That was good.

All right. I think we ought to just wrap it up there. That was great. Allison, always love getting to talk to you and those who are listening. Definitely. Check out what Allison is doing with Bluestocking.

She's amplifying med tech and she's trying to have these conversations more and more in different places. So, you'll probably see more and more of her. I hope so anyway. And if you will put the links in the show notes so that you can easily find her.

But thank you so much for listening. We'll let you all get back to it.

Everybody take care of.

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Etienne Nichols

Etienne Nichols is the Head of Industry Insights & Education at Greenlight Guru. As a Mechanical Engineer and Medical Device Guru, he specializes in simplifying complex ideas, teaching system integration, and connecting industry leaders. While hosting the Global Medical Device Podcast, Etienne has led over 200...