Recently I’ve been having some health issues and making my trip through the mill of doctors, tests and followups that all entails. Least it be said that the frustration of the health care system is understandable in the US.
It’s been hard, because you end up dealing with a lot of bureaucracy of a massive organization and affiliated testing facilities. The people are professional without a doubt, but there is feeling of just being another number to most of them.
The dynamic is they only see a sliver of the work needing to be done for you and aren’t tied to the end goal. They do their portion and move on; it’s a machine of sorts.
And this can be de-humanizing if I’m being honest.
Sure, it’s easy enough to book an appointment. But when it comes to following up—billing questions, clarifications, or anything that doesn’t fit neatly into their system—you’re waiting. Hours, days… maybe longer without an advocate to see that the issue is resolved.
The most responsiveness I get is during bill collection.
When you have a question that’s blocking you in some way, you just want to directly reach quality support. No endless phone trees that result in “press 5 for a callback”.
Here’s the deal:
You want someone who understands and is your advocate in solving your issue at hand.
I’ve often thought how quaint it is that the customers I work with just pick up the phone – typically for emergencies, hop on a video-conference or send an email. No fuss, no hurdles—just progress.
That my friend, is the power of decentralization AND partnerships.