I agree, to some extent. However, a lot of this depends on the market you’re in, too.
I say that because if we compare the available caregivers, especially specialists, between say Flagstaff and Tampa there’s no comparison. Because Flagstaff does have an excellent range of specialists and practitioners in general, it’s not a bad place to get good care. But - there’s very little “depth” as far as practitioners are concerned. That is, where we might be able to choose from 10-20 specialists in the same discipline in Tampa, there might only be one or two in Flagstaff. Don’t like one? Your choices are immediately limited unless you care to drive the two hours to Phoenix. We have dropped/changed doctors in the past if we weren’t satisfied with their level of care or some other attribute. And when that’s happened we provide constructive feedback, either in person or in writing. For that matter, we do this with just about any professional service provider. If they do well, like my ENT APRN on Monday, they receive immediate feedback and praise. If they don’t they get feedback and we see what their response is. If nothing changes or they’re dismissive, we move on. They might have been having a rough day - we get that - and if that’s the case they get another chance. It’s not fair to judge without giving the subject the opportunity to address their inadequacies. A good example of this was our former internist, many years ago (1998, I recall). I had a 1:00 pm appointment. I arrived early, did my paperwork and waited. And waited. When 2:00 pm rolled around, I told the receptionist I was leaving, and I did. Mrs. Dan saw the internist a few days later, and they remarked that I did’t show up for an appointment earlier in the week. Mrs. Dan “corrected” them and explained that I left because I wasn’t going to wait an hour past my appointment time to see them. I got a phone call from the doctor that evening with an apology, and a request that I rebook my appointment at my earliest possible convenience. The next time I was there they were running a few minutes late, and the receptionist let me know this. I saw them maybe 5-10 minutes after the appointment time, at which they apologized again. I never had a problem with late appointments there again. My time has value, too. If you can’t manage your practice/time in a manner that keeps things on schedule, you need to change, not me. The BS of sitting in a waiting room for hours tells me you don’t value my time. -D > On Aug 10, 2022, at 9:16 AM, Jim Cathey via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > wrote: > >> This is also why I’m all for socialized medicine. It’s far from perfect, but >> as long as medicine involves profits, it will never be centered on the >> patient. > > Profits are not the problem. The lack of _competition_ is the problem. > You don't like how you're being treated? Vote with your feet. With enough > such votes the bad ones either get the message and improve, or die. Either > way, you (we) win. Yes, it can be inefficient. That's what makes it work. > > Systems that prevent you from doing this are Evil, regardless of the ideology > in which they cloak themselves. It is also your (our) responsibility to > provide > good feedback. Traditionally it is a nice letter explaining why you will > never > darken their door again. Be nice. Be thorough. A walk, _with_ a letter, is > at least 10x more effective than a walk alone. > > -- Jim > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
