by Peter Barrett

On September 1st, in an “As I See It” column entitled “Demand Better Health Care Service,” the author expressed her well-justified frustration with a local hospital’s lack of customer service, services we as consumers have come to expect from every other business entity except, it seems, health care.

The author also expressed her frustration in a lack of choices for medical care. Make no mistake; health care is a business, and as such needs to extend the same kind of customer service we’ve all come to expect as consumers.

You have a choice. The next time you have to wait an hour for an exam, tell them you’re unhappy and do not return. A written request to that office gets your medical records transferred to the next, more customer-oriented health care provider. Refuse to be treated like a number; seek out those in the health-care industry that have a reputation for respecting your time (ask around) and give them a try. Don’t sit quietly and accept that your experiences with the health care system are by their very nature unpleasant; there are many very good providers out there that do give individualized service.

Ask questions. Be proactive. Who do you know that has a good doctor, or has visited a clean, well-run medical facility that is staffed by caring professionals? Who answers the phone quickly? How are you treated once you walk in the door? Are your questions answered satisfactorily?

Peter Barrett is the Director of Marketing and Client Services for Medical Imaging. He lives in Lenexa.

Remember, you have a right to ask your doctor to be sent to the provider you prefer. You should exercise it.

You have a choice. Every time you take your care to a facility that treats you and your time with respect, it’s one more vote for a health care system that exists to service patients, and a vote against those that just want to process you (however roughly) as quickly as possible to get the payment from your health insurance company. This kind of respect for the patient has to be evident from the moment you have your first contact with at the front desk all the way through settling your bill.

Are you made aware of the “patient preps” (i.e., arrive with a full bladder, bring your prior mammograms, eat nothing for 12 hours beforehand, etc.)? Are you sent to the correct facility? Can you find the correct facility easily, based upon their directions? Does their website provide you with a wide range of answers to your questions? Do they even have a website? What are they doing to educate you about exams? When you come to a health care facility, many times you are not in the best frame of mind due to illness or concern over your well-being; the provider you choose needs to recognize these facts and treat you accordingly.

You have a choice; health-care consumers need to have the same expectations from their providers as they do for any other fee-for-service business.

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