The problem in health care: Caring too much

Recently, I watched a disturbing video of a fellow physician being dragged out of an airplane. I find it hard to understand how these events unfolded despite Dr. Dao being a customer who chose to fly United, paid hundreds of dollars for his ticket and legally boarded his flight. Whether blame belongs with United or the Chicago Department of Aviation, this was an unsettling occurrence. Yet somehow — I wasn’t surprised. For the past few years, I have had moments where I have been less than enamored by the aviation industry. It’s not that I’m an unreasonable traveler. I understand that safety issues, equipment failures and weather can impact whether or not I will have a successful travel day. However, I’ve had enough distasteful run-ins, delayed flights, lost items and heard enough horror stories to keep me wary. Dr. Dao’s story got me thinking about the states of customer service in the airline industry versus the health care industry. As a health care provider, it seems like we are being held to a much higher standard of customer satisfaction than other industries. The slightest drop in patient satisfaction has quite real and serious consequences. While the health care industry as a whole is becoming increasingly more obsessive about the satisfaction of its customers, it feels as though some airlines have moved farther and farther away from this concept. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A soci...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs