The Supreme Court of the United States is set to reveal its ruling on the landmark health care legislation known as the Affordable Care Act. Much angst has resulted from this law and many parties that feel obliged to support or criticize the law have prepared statements, and in some cases, multiple statements so they could have something prepared no matter the outcome.

While health care providers and health insurance plans are most directly affected by the law and the question of whether or not it can be implemented, the law actually has wide-reaching implications across industries. The main reason is that employer-based health insurance benefits are a major cost for almost any company with employees, and they are also significantly beneficial for those fortunate to receive such benefits.  In addition, health care spending as a proportion of GDP in the United States is estimated to be greater than 17%, and is growing at 8% per year.

The health care reform debate in one way or another has been a source of uncertainty for business for at least twenty years.  It has gotten to the point where the old maxim rings true that the one constant is that there will be change. And it seems at times that everyone has an opinion on the matter, and each opinion is different for any number of reasons.

I heard one considered view on health care reform this past May at the 9^th Annual SAS Health Care and Life Sciences Executive Conference that I think bears repeating.  Dr. Donald Berwick participated in the event as a keynote speaker, bringing his perspective as a long-term proponent of patient-centric health care. He spoke eloquently about the need to focus on finding innovation and scaling it to drive overall cost containment, and he laid out his five-part prescription for reforming the U.S. health care system that not surprisingly begins with the patient:

1. Put patients first.
2. Protect the disadvantaged.
3. Get to scale – reform needs to happen in regions and states
4. Return the money – find health care that works and funnel the savings back into the system.
5. Act locally.

Each one of those points could be explored in great detail, and while I have opinions on some of them, I don’t feel qualified to address the last four points. That first point about the patient, however, is a different matter.

I can certainly understand the thinking about putting patients first, but I think it might be equally transformative to put the patient first and also to treat them like a customer.  Our current health care system has the individual sometimes referred to as a “patient,” and sometimes as a “member.” Often, interactions with the customer are limited to times when they need care of some sort, when a payment is needed, or when a regulatory requirement compels the interaction. Might it not effect change to engage with your customers when they are well as much as when they are not well? I would think so. As it stands, the individual is seldom treated as a customer in health care, and he is even more rarely referred to that way.  And yet the individual (“customer”) is the one constant in the swirling winds of reform and change.

I understand that health care providers and health insurance plans are constrained by multiple overlapping regulations, but other heavily-regulated industries, such as telecommunications and energy, can serve as examples of how to engage with customers positively in heavily regulated enviroments. These stories also demonstrate how customer analytics can enable positive business results by driving a customer-centric way of operating.

Whether or not the Supreme Court upholds all or portions of the Affordable Healthcare Act, I am ready to start feeling like my health care providers and my insurer care about me as a customer as much as they care for me as a patient/member. It’s a different kind of caring. And I will say this much – there are many ways in which I already approach my health care needs as a consumer. I certainly exercise informed choices when they are presented to me, and I am equally willing to praise you or pan you publicly in social media. So how about it – can I be your customer?