What term in healthcare would you be happy if you never heard again?
We've all been there.
You're sitting in a meeting that's probably gone a little long. When the new guy gets up to present, if you weren't asleep before you might as well be now, because the presentation's lingo sounds identical to everything else you've heard.
Or, you're talking to a colleague, and he says that one thing that makes your skin crawl.
You probably didn't say anything in that meeting or to your colleague. Erring on the side of manners was probably best.
Now, it's your chance to let us know: What healthcare term drives you nuts?
Following a short poll of our editorial team, we've made our own list. The words below have been everywhere we've looked in 2014 and, for one reason or another, really rub us the wrong way. Feel free to let us know what's on your list in the comments below.
1. Disruption. This is the top pick from our editorial staff. If disruption is the new normal, can you disrupt disruption? And what qualifies you as a disruptor, anyway? "Disruption" is descriptive enough that it piques interest but vague enough that it leaves you feeling let down when you realize it could pertain to pretty much anything. Plus, whatever happened to teamwork?
2. Innovation. Disruption's less-vexing cousin, innovation is another word that just can't catch a break. Innovate? Inno-wait! Just because something is new doesn't mean it's worth this much attention. There has got to be another fitting word somewhere to describe that new idea/invention/process, etc.
3. Accountability. We sure hope accountability in healthcare goes without saying. The fact that this term is thrown around so often (We assume everyone is reminding one another?) is slightly nerve-wracking. We would hope accountability, a.k.a. responsibility, is assumed into one's decision to join the healthcare field, enough so that reminders would be unnecessary.
4. Big data. At this point, there's so much data out there that the term seems like a bit of a misnomer. "Cloud" seems like it deserves a mention by proxy, but then it's more specific, and probably more important. After all, it's where the big data lives.
5. Ebola. Don't get us wrong, Ebola is a global tragedy. However, fear of the disease has been disproportionate to its effects in the U.S. The Ebola hype may originate more from the media than from healthcare providers, but then healthcare providers read what the media writes, and the media likes to make money, so…you see where this is going? This is how we end up with problems like the one summarized by the Wall Street Journal: "U.S. Buys up Ebola Gear, Leaving Little for Africa," or this man, profiled in The Washington Post, who profits from selling web domains named after diseases.
6. Obamacare. Americans like the healthcare law, but they hate Obamacare. Turns out they're the same thing. With its mostly negative connotations, this term has no place in a productive discussion about healthcare and generates a healthy dose of confusion. Regardless of our ideas on how to get there, we should all be headed toward the same goal: Creating value in care.
7. The uninsured. The (fill-in-the-blank-here) tactic is a sneaky linguistic strategy to talk about groups to which a stigma is attached in American society. "The uninsured" is a simplified fix for referencing a complicated problem, and using it is more hurtful than helpful.
8. Excellence. Everyone wants to be excellent, and that's great. But, we'd rather hear the specifics than the generic term itself. Otherwise, it's a fine line between pursuit of excellence and unproductive, self-congratulatory motions. We're glad you're excellent. Now tell us why.
9. State-of-the-art. A sly way of saying excellent, this term could mean anything. It's applied so liberally that it ends up being a throwaway half of the time. Not everything can be state-of-the-art, and that's okay. If something works, even if it's not state-of-the-art, we'd settle (No one in the office has the iPhone 6 yet, and we're doing just fine).
10. Bottom line. The goal of every business is to have a healthy bottom line. In healthcare, it's not so simple anymore. Making the bottom line is supposed to be a product of providing the best care, not the other way around. As such, this term could use a snazzy update. We're taking nominations.
Note: All entries are for fun and sport! The team recognizes the importance of homogenous communication in healthcare. On a lighter note, check out TIME's poll for the worst words of 2014 here.