I've been spending a lot of time in medical offices over the past year. I think hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices could use a good systems engineer.
At one office I go to a treatment center and then have a follow up visit with a nurse practitioner. When I check in at the clinic they affix a label to an index card that I am to pass on to the NP check in desk. Why? Who knows.
At the oral surgeons, I check in and they give me a tiny piece of paper that I am to give to the dental assistant who calls my name. Why? Who knows.
At radiology, they no longer call for you by name after checking in, but give you a little ticket just like the ones you get at the supermarket deli counter. The assistant comes out and calls for "605!." However, if nobody answers, they follow that up with "Smith?" I suppose they could look like raffle tickets. Which is better, "I'd like a pound of sliced liver," or "Hurray! I won a CT scan today!"? At least they don't have that little digital display you anxiously watch count up to your number, "Now scanning number 237."
Of course at each of these offices they ask for my name and birth date at check in. Given the need to speak loudly due to masks and the open seating, I can tell you the age of every other person sitting in the room. So much for privacy there!
It is amazing that in the day of high tech, the patient is still carrying around these little slips of paper. When my father was staying at a rehab institution, all medical records were conveyed by fax. Are medical offices the sole remaining users of fax machines?
