Harvey Picker (December 8, 1915 – March 22, 2008) was an American businessman, educator, inventor, and philanthropist.
He was the founder, along with his wife, Jean, of the Boston-based Picker Institute, whose goal was to promote patient-centered healthcare.
His wife, Mrs. Jean Sovatkin Picker (Smith College, 1942),[1] who died in 1990, served as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations and was a journalist for Life Magazine.
They "funded the development of survey methods widely used in America and Europe to gauge patient satisfaction.
[2] Dr. and Mrs. Picker believed that the American health care system was technologically and scientifically outstanding but overall was not sensitive to patients' concerns and their comfort.