Any Humans Left at the Pediatrician’s Office?
Photo Credit: Flickr: edenpictures
We’ve been in an epic battle against some sort of unknown illness that has afflicted my 2 year-old son the past four weeks. It’s been worrisome, frustrating and downright baffling at times.
This isn’t intended to be a political post on the state of health care in the United States, instead an observation on how our relationships with most of our doctors have changed.
Through this process, we’ve had our doctor – who I have known for over 30 years – tell us to call in if certain things happened. Seemed easy enough. He wanted to hear the status of his patient. He instructed us to call if our toddler had changes in how he acted, etc.
When we called after our son got sick again, we were routed through a maze of maddening menus and automated phone labrynths. It was impossible to talk to a human at all. When you finally (after 13 minutes, and I am not exaggerating!) got to a answering machine with the doctor’s nurse, you left a message and then more waiting. The nurse takes another 4-6 hours to get back to you. Meanwhile your child is sick (not life-threatening mind you) and you can’t reach your doctor.
Why is it this way? If doctors are this busy, then we need to get back to smaller, more personal practices. What am I missing here?
The doctor’s answering service also no longer exists. Now, when you call after hours, our pediatrician sends you to a triage nurses line at the local childrens hospital. Again, you’re something like 12 degrees of separation from the doctor who knows your kids best.
I don’t know what the solution is to this – perhaps its moving to a po-dunk town where there is only one doctor and a few kids. But if you think of doctors offices as a business – which they are – the customer service is awful. It’s impossible to get a human at a time of need and when you do talk to one, they’d rather ride a razor blade into a pool of salt water than actually help you.
Of course we’re emotional since our little guy is under the weather. But the common courtesy you used to get from your local pediatrician no longer exists and perhaps its time to shop around. I’d hate to end a 30 year relationship with my doctor but the service level has become deplorable.
Perhaps most of you don’t think of your doctor’s office as a business where customer service should be a priority. I do and I hope doctors around the country start taking notice that their customers – and their sick kids – are not happy with the current state.
Follow Scott on Twitter @prgully or email him at scott@everyotherthursday.com. His personal blog, where he writes about public relations and social media, is www.scottgulbransen.com. Just don’t bitch to him because he has a very strong pimp hand.
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