You Don’t Hear This Too Often

One of the difficult things to do when you make a move like I have from the Valley of the Sun to the Emerald City is re-establishing your routine. Setting up the things that are a part of your every day life, that once you have lived somewhere for so long, you kind of forget about them. Your commute, where are you going to grocery shop, things of this nature. Last week I put another part of the infrastructure in place. I had my first Doctors Appt.

A little back story here will help put things in perspective. I was born into an HMO, Kaiser in the San Francisco bay area. Because it is all I had ever known, all of the HMO horror stories I would hear other people rant about, were just they way it was from my perspective. I knew all the tricks of the trade and accepted the fact that showing up to an appointment probably meant that I had 45 minutes of reading time ahead of me. I will say that I never felt like I got less then adequate health care throughout my life. I can also say, that with a few exceptions, like the doctors that took care of me after my accident, I never really felt wowed by the service I got either. It just was.

Back to last week. My first impressions was via the web. I had signed up for Group Health as my medical provider. After receiving my card in the mail, I ventured onto their website to see what options I had. The had a very good web presence including a list of Drs that were in the downtown office near me. I chose one and then called a number to set up an appointment. First big surprise was they got me in quickly, like in two business days from when I called. When I got to the facility, less then a 10 minute walk from work, I was greeted pleasantly right away and given a new patient form to fill out. Expecting to have at least a half hour to fill out the form, I had to do a double take when they called me to come in in less then five minutes. I explained to the admission nurse I hadn’t finished filling out my form yet and she told me not to worry and that she would help me finish it, which she did. After the weighing in and general questions, I was told the Dr would be coming in to see me. Again expecting the typical wait, I was only two pages in to ESPN the Magazine when my Dr showed up. She was polite, intelligent and seemed to genuinely care as I went over the things I wanted to cover with her. After she answered all of my questions, I needed to have blood drawn and get a prescription filled. I went to the lab, again no wait and after my blood was drawn I went to the pharmacy where my prescription was already filled and waiting for me.

I was dumbfounded. I have received excellent customer service before, but never like this in this unlikely place. I was compelled to fill out a customer feedback form and let them know how awesome my initial foray was into their world. Every business that deals with customers could learn a thing or two about how Group Health treated me.

Peace Out

Bill

~ by b44hanson on April 9, 2009.