A Spoonful of Perspective Makes the Medicine Go Down...

Dear Dr. "My Time Is More Valuable Than Yours",
 
Thank you for the opportunity to secure a 7 am appointment with you this morning. My mornings are hectic but I managed to make arrangements for my boyfriend to take my other two kids to school so I wasn't late to meet you. And to be honest, although it was super early, 7 am actually worked out well since I had a 10 am conference call and my daughter had four exams.

I had been anxious to meet you since my daughter's blood work and symptoms indicated that she may have an autoimmune disease. I was grateful for the opportunity to finally meet you to confirm a diagnosis. Not knowing something, especially when it comes to your child's health is a bit disconcerting.  Since you are the only pediatric specialist of rheumatology in this area and only in town one day a month, you can understand why I was really looking forward to meeting you.
 
As excited I was to meet you, I must express my dissatisfaction with the service I received. I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on TV but I can assure you when it comes to my business and my customers, I go out of my way to make my customers know that I care. I guess compassion is nothing anyone can learn in eight years of medical school.  In any case, I may not save lives but I help grow businesses. If I don't know my "patients" and their "ailments" or business challenges then I can't diagnose their problem nor help them find the remedy for their pain.

 
Oh, another thing...I also make it a point to properly present myself and represent the company I work for. I make certain that they know who I am and what my role is.  In any successful relationship (business or personal), the main component is trust. So maybe now you understand why I was so upset about meeting you, an adult rheumatologist as opposed to the expected pediatric doctor that I waited a month to see. Please note that the bait and switch tactic never builds confidence with prospective customers.
 
After the first twenty minutes of waiting, I asked the bubbly receptionist how long the wait would be since my daughter had her exams and I had a 10:00 conference call. She was so responsive, getting up from her desk to run to the back to find out. As a result of her actions, we were promptly called back...only to be placed in a holding cell for another two hours! Not one person acknowledged us. Needless to say, you could cut the New York tension in room 6 with a scalpel.
 
After we received a large case of lip service, we waited another hour. Finally, a nurse came in and asked questions, took vitals and then led us to the X-ray department. Again we waited and got called in. X-rays were taken and then we were escorted back to the holding cell. We waited another hour to talk to a resident who asked us the same questions the nurse did and looked very official as he nodded his head a lot. Finally after another hour, you graced us with your presence.

I can't even describe the relief I felt regardless of your pompous entrance. I didn’t care. I just wanted to find out what was wrong with my baby girl. However, that quickly faded when you left me hanging as I extended my hand to introduce myself. And what made matters worse is that you didn’t even acknowledge your extreme tardiness.  At this point, my daughter had been counted absent and I had already called my boss to request a personal day. And the only thing we got was a stone faced, ADULT rheumatologist with an attitude about our attitudes.  What's worse is that we were no smarter FIVE hours later than we were when we got there and ultimately we still don't know exactly how her condition should be treated. 

Regardless of the inconvenience, I will make sure that my daughter gets the attention that she needs.  I am not sure how other patients of yours react but I can tell you that I always try to find the positive side of unfortunate circumstances.  I think that is what makes me as resilient as I am.  I know that I will never be able to fix you nor the way you do business but I want to thank you for making me take a good look at how I interact with others and validating my best practices as a sales person.  At the end of the day, our expertise differs but the functions of how we SHOULD do business are ultimately the same.  Here's what I learned:

· Be prompt and punctual when making an appointment with anyone. Their time is just as valuable as the next guy.  Time is money, money is time and you can't turn the clock back.

· Be compassionate.  Treat others' issues as they are your own.  Business is business but at the end of the day, everyone is human.

· We all have a job to do and a role to play.  Play it and play it with passion.

· Listen and listen well.  Identify the problem and vow to find the solution.  It's about the partnership not just the transaction.  In the end, people will forget what you said and what you did but they will never forget how you made them feel.

· Making mistakes and promptly admitting it is the perfect opportunity to build credibility with your patients, customers, friends, family etc.

· I was compelled to either bill you for my time or sell you one of my "best practice" guidebooks to help you improve your approach.  Instead I decided to take your inventory and drop you this line.  I hope you find it helpful.

Ultimately, my entire experience related to my "appointment" at the children's hospital was thought provoking.  I learned very valuable lessons related to me as a business woman but the most important lesson I learned from it all was gratitude.  It turns out that a stroll through the children's hospital put it all in perspective for me and my daughter.  We were grateful to only be there for a few hours as opposed to those parents and children who have been summoned to stay there for days, weeks, months or maybe don't even make it home.  

We are fortunate and grateful for my daughter’s condition not being life threatening and treatable.  So if I need to find another doctor, then so be it.  For somebody who didn't have enough time to wait five hours on a doctor, I realize after my stroll through the hallways of the children's hospital that I have a hell of a lot more time than some.  We may not have all the answers to the problem, but we certainly have a healthier perspective on life since we met you.  So thank you!

Sincerely,

The Impatient New Yorker