I have called scores of healthcare provider practices during the past several months, and have been amazed at what I’ve found. It is very difficult in many situations to reach a human being. Why? Because I often had to navigate a phone system with several options, and those options usually did not include an option to speak to an operator. If I didn’t know what option to choose and couldn’t get to an operator, I risked getting a department that was annoyed because I called them and it wasn’t their job to assist with the phone system. I am persistent and tenacious, but I have hung up on a good number of occasions because I grew weary and annoyed trying to find my way through the ‘maze.’
Imagine if you are ill with the flu, or worse, and you get caught in one of these phone mazes. How do you feel, better or worse than when you made the call? After all, you wouldn’t have called if you felt good in the first place. The last thing you want is to get stuck in an annoying phone system without a clear head, energy and all while needing immediate attention.
You surely understand the value of automation and the need to keep cost down. Most of us have that need ourselves, and yet when it comes to patient quality of care and satisfaction if the phone system’s hard to use, it will have an associated cost attached.
When I am amid making the calls that I referred to earlier, I sometimes play little games to help add value to the people I am calling, and other times merely to amuse myself. There are also times when I admittedly will just leave a message in a random place and leave it at that. With my simple, sort of warped sense of humor, I get a kick out of that. Imagine how many others do the same thing for the same reason. More voicemail messages in the wrong places result in more work for the staff of that organization. If that is true, what happens to the value of automation and reduced costs?
The next question is, do those organizations deserve someone dropping a phone message in a random location due to being unable to get to the person they want to reach? If you call for Jane Doe, you want to speak with Jane Doe, right? If Jane is not accessible in the phone system, and an operator doesn’t pick up, the best you can do is press a number or symbol on your telephone keypad and hope for the best.
Don’t get me wrong, I love our country’s healthcare system, but it isn’t perfect. I recently read what the top reasons for healthcare problems in the U.S. are. The various commentaries ranged from being specific to processes, to pointing out the ‘silo arrangement of centers of excellence.’ My immediate question was, how can it be a center of excellence if siloed? That is an oxymoron to me. That said, what about ‘bad’ phone systems? Could they also be a contributor to the problems of our healthcare system? Could a difficult phone system discourage a potential patient in need of treatment to the degree that they hang up and go back to bed, hoping for the best to occur? That may never show up in the quality of care metrics, but it darn sure makes an impact.
And what about guys like me who call to offer help in the form of solutions to healthcare provider organizations and never get to anyone? Missing out on learning about a great solution for chronic care management, provider data management, lower cost resources, collecting self-pay bills more efficiently or processing claims with greater accuracy could affect patient outcomes.
I know that it may seem that I have made a big deal out of a phone system, but as I become annoyed with the difficulties encountered or the exhaustive wait times on hold, I think about the repercussions. Our healthcare system is in big trouble when reimbursements are not keeping up with costs and yet something seemingly as easy to correct as an annoying (inadequate) phone system remains.
There is no doubt that political agendas, big insurance lobbies, and the silos mentioned earlier impact cost and quality of care. However, if we are always getting the wrong number when trying to get care or provide assistance, how will it improve?