Have you tried to get anything fixed these past few weeks? I am not talking about a knee or shoulder, but my example is about Comcast. Recently, I had my internet go out in my home. Kind of important as I have an electronic medical record and could not access the patients charts. Anyways…it took three weeks, 15 phone calls, 7 visits from various technicians; all of whom had a different idea of the problem and a different solution. During each phone call after they left and the problem was not fixed, I was asked to take a satisfaction survey while on hold. As you know, you think if you agree to take the survey, that your call will be answered sooner. Nope, it doesn’t work, you still wait a long time- but you do think maybe you waited less than the guy who did not agree to take the survey. Interesting psychology around that. Well, after 7 visits from Comcast, which of course I had to be home for, one no show, no communication between any of them. It didn’t get fixed until I told them they couldn’t leave until it was fixed. You see, a new neighbor signed up and was added to the Comcast rolls, and they split our cable line, which cut our signal in half. Think about it this way, each service person charges for their time to come out, whether or not the problem is fixed, they get paid either way. Yes, they come in 24-48 hours, but what is the use, if nothing is fixed. Kind of like the airlines telling you they have a 90% on time arrival time, when they build in 45 minutes sitting on the tarmac as to the flight time. Is this service in the new decade???
This blog is not about my woes with Comcast. God knows, we all have our own stories about our various telecommunication providers. But this reminded me about is how grateful I am about the unique and amazing staff I have in my office. This past week, we have been down two staff members, both due to illness in their families. As many of you know, our office really tries hard to provide real service; we answer the phones, not an answering machine, you know the name of the person answering the call. We call to provide appointment reminders, our staff tries to get back to you within 24 hours unless it is an urgent message and respond to concerns or complaints in the best manner that we can.
I have often told the staff that the reason a I am busy or successful is not necessarily only about my happy-go-lucky sunny disposition (right?), but really, it is as much about the service that is provided by one’s staff as well as the skills and care the surgeon provides.
After my experience with Comcast, I wanted to provide some gratitude and appreciation of the hard work that my staff puts in everyday to go way beyond in terms of providing real care and support for our patients. Yes, they get cranky from time-to-time, we all do, and occasionally aren’t up to our best. Sometimes we are late, too. And we all know that patients are not always the most polite people when they are in pain. But on the other hand, in this day of changing healthcare where people will become just an MRI or CT scan, a number or statistic for the government to track like Big Brother (no-not the TV show), we don’t mind being called a “dinosaur”- because that means we are providing care like it used to be performed and provided, and I thank my staff for allowing me to do that.
-Lesley J. Anderson, MD