By Tina Withrow
I have to admit. I am crazy about Chic-fil-A. The moment my eyes open, I start salivating for my daily dose of chicken mini’s or chicken biscuit and a DDP (that’s diet Dr. Pepper thank you very much!!!). I try to talk myself out of going there, but the little voice in my head says, “It’s chicken. It’s okay…You know you want it. You deserve it!!” I have even eaten breakfast and dinner there, all in the same day! I have often told the staff, “Please, if my family is with me, act like you don’t even know me.”
The owners of my local Chic-fil-A have become friends of mine. Mike and Becky Encinia are friends that I see and talk to on a frequent basis. They know my role as a patient advocate and cancer navigator and they share my passion for helping out in the community when duty calls. They take a personal interest in what is happening in my little world and the everyday life of their customers. You can tell their employees are happy people who love going to work each day. They have a common goal. Make the customer happy.
The idea for this article came to me after I took a Health-Sync client down to the local government funded facility for follow up on cancer treatment. He has a nasty cancer that rears its ugly head from time to time and has to rely on the services at this facility. He has served over 20 years in the military and cannot get medical insurance outside of what they provide. He is trying his best to survive his cancer until his Medicare benefits start in July. He will then get to choose when and where he receives treatment.
My client received bad news on this particular day. The cancer was growing. It wasn’t the bad news that affected me as much as it was witnessing the lack of empathy for someone receiving bad news about his or her health. The medical professional never made eye contact with my client, never asked how he was doing, did not explain his blood work or the reason why treatment had to be stopped. They were matter of fact and quite sterile in the delivery of bad news. When I asked how they could be so cold hearted, I was told that if I had a problem, to go ahead and report them, it didn’t matter any way. Nothing would be done. End of story.
Imagine, if you will for a moment, that healthcare and Chic-fil-A were integrated and Chic-fil-A provided the customer service side of healthcare.
You would go in to a facility, it would be crowded but it would be organized chaos. You stepped up to the window and you would be greeted by the cheerful professional who would ask you what you needed and they would look you in the eye and give you something called CUSTOMER SERVICE. They would tell you what they were going to do for you and how long it would take. Your wait wouldn’t be too long and even if it took longer than normal, they would explain every process and why there was a delay. You felt that the entity was taking your situation seriously and you felt better overall leaving than when you came in.
I firmly believe that we, as medical consumers, have a right to good care, from people who have concern for their fellow man. There is power in numbers and power in the medical dollars that we, the healthcare consumer, possess. We must take our medical dollars and DRIVE them to medical facilities and providers that care about the individual and are working toward good patient outcomes. Until we stop thinking that we have no choice in medical decisions. Then we will continue to have stories like this one being told over and over.
Some things that aren’t broken just don’t need fixing. And some things that seem fine are the very things that need fixing. Funny how that works…isn’t it? You guessed it; I went by my local Chick-fil-A on my way home. I just had to get me a dose of that “how are you, how can I help you, have a nice day attitude” that was missing earlier in the day. The chicken sandwich was just what the doctor ordered.
Tina Withrow is a cancer navigator and patient advocate at Health-Sync. If you or someone you know needs help navigating a health-care crisis or cancer, contact Tina at 214-546-2215 or e-mail her at twithrow@health-sync.net.
