Oct 14, 2022
The Waiting Game
Incentivize Change. Vote.
“We are experiencing higher than normal call volume. Your call is very important to us. Please continue to hold.”
What a lie. The call volume isn’t abnormal; it’s expected. And if our calls were important, they’d hire more staff to answer the phones.
The truth is, they don’t care. They don’t care about customer service, and they don’t care about their staff. The current system works for them because it works for their profit and their shareholders.
They could hire more workers and improve their flow. They could improve their online functionality or their chat features. But they don’t. Because they have no incentive to do so.
They have the technology to call you back when they are available, but often, companies opt to have you waste your time on hold. Why? Because you’ll wait.
The healthcare system in the United States is like this, too. We force people to wait in the waiting rooms of the ER for hours — sometimes days. Why? Because you’ll wait.
You want to make an appointment with a PCP or a specialist? The next appointment is in a few weeks — maybe months. Why? Because you’ll wait.
Why should these places spend their profits to improve things? The current system works well for them.
Our government was created to be representative of our wants, needs, and desires. Government is supposed to work for us.
“For the people, by the people,” right?
So let’s change the system. Other countries have figured out how to make their systems work better for their citizens, putting their health first — while still allowing for corporations to be profitable.
So, when will we demand a better healthcare system?
When will we place a priority on revamping the entire system?
We need more doctors, more nurses, and more healthcare facilities. We need more access to primary care and urgent care. We need to change how emergency departments are utilized.
We need an overhaul. And right now, there’s not an incentive for it.
We need our government to incentivize change. They made a step towards this with Value Based Purchasing (where insurance companies only pay for quality, not quantity — not paying for 30-day-readmissions to incentivize the best care the first time, for example), but it could go so much further.
What if we had a system where you could get an appointment on the same day? What if you could get common medications without a prescription? What if the entire system was just…..easier?
We could have it. We just have to vote for governmental officials who want to make it happen.
Vote in November for people who represent you and your interests. Do a bit of research, bring a few friends, and vote.
The mid-term elections are just as important as the presidential elections. We need to put people in place who want to represent us.
Or, don’t. And continue to wait.
