Category: Commentary

Part I of II

I believe it was Christmas 1993. My older brother gave us a dial-up modem, so we could upgrade our computer and finally utilize one of those CDs that kept arriving in the mail to access something called America Online.

After playing with it for a few weeks, I invited another brother over to give him a tour… especially of the highly publicized Internet. We sat in my home office for about an hour as I took us from place to place on the Information Superhighway. Then he made a prediction: “This will never be a big deal. It’s way too slow.” I responded: “Today.”

The world changed quickly. Dial-up gave way to broadband. The sock monkey and others generated millions in advertising and little in revenue. Brick and mortar stores learned how to utilize the new medium, and – fast as you can say ‘Yahoo’ – it seemed everyone had a login and password for eBay, Amazon and iTunes. Online now accounts for eight percent of total retail sales… and the trend keeps heading north.

Kids born at the peak of the NASDAQ began receiving their driver’s licenses two months ago. So, while those of us with birthdates prior to the rise and fall of AOL remember when the only use of a telephone was to call someone, those born since will always live in a world accessible at their fingertips.

Of course, everything isn’t always easy…

Tomorrow: When technology brings pain

Last year I made an unexpected visit to an emergency room, and the first thing Kathy asked when we arrived was, “Do you take Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas.” The person assisting us replied yes, and within 90 minutes I was fixed up and on our way back home. Then the bill from the doctor arrived a few weeks later. You guessed it. He didn’t accept our insurance.

After nearly a year of trying to negotiate a reduction in the fee – $1,278 for less than 20 minutes of his time – we received notice that the full amount was due within two weeks. The frustration I felt after all this led me to write a letter to his practice group that included these two paragraphs:

Certainly, you are allowed to operate your business in whatever way you deem best meets your financial needs. However, I think it is inconsiderate – and, perhaps, deceptive, especially during times of emergency – for facilities where you practice to not clearly state verbally and in writing that the attending physician may not be on approved insurance plans.

I write not to ask for further consideration of reducing our charges, as that seems to be an irreversible decision, and we sent in payment for the invoice. My purpose is to ask you to adjust your systems and processes to inform those who work in facilities where you provide medical services to clarify for patients and their families whether their specific insurance applies to your attending physicians.

Neither the physician nor anyone representing his practice responded. I copied all of our political representatives. A member of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter six weeks later thanking me for expressing “concerns about the Affordable Care Act” that continued with him expressing everything he disagrees with in “Obamacare” and how he will repeal the “burden upon the American people” when a new president is elected. (It was pretty much a form letter, and I’m guessing my point was lost on the staffer who processed it.)

Two weeks after that a letter arrived from one of our two U.S. Senators, who thanked me for recognizing the time and effort I took to “actively participate in the democratic process.” His letter was more specific with statistics on the cost of health care programs and that he supports “realistic reforms that lower health care costs, address entitlement spending, and increase access to affordable health coverage.” (While he didn’t address my specific concerns, I’m hoping the staffer who took care of this response at least thought about our experience.)

My point in sharing this is not to take a political stance on the Affordable Care Act. I’ll leave that to others. It’s to remind you that all of your customers/clients want to be heard – and when they share an opinion, it would be nice if your reply addressed it directly.

[Interestingly, we haven’t heard from our other U.S. Senator. Perhaps he’s too busy running for president – albeit far behind his billionaire opponent – to focus on the constituents who sent him to Washington to represent them.]