This week, I had the worst customer service experience at a medical office that I've ever had. The office manager was rude, condescending, accusatory and disrespectful to the patient. She expressed absolutely no empathy, kindness, or consideration for the patient. My wife had an appointment for a procedure (for which she had to wait a month), but the office staff made a mistake with the orders and schedule, so they did not perform the procedure. In addition, the staff failed to provide the patient with important, scheduled specialty care. We were treated horribly by the office manager.
Here is what the office manager should have said when she came into the room, "I'm so sorry you've been sitting here, half naked, for 45 minutes after the medical assistant said she would be right back to start your procedure. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable? I'm afraid that our office made a mistake in the ordering of the procedure for today and there are some issues that we need to get resolved. I'm sure this is very frustrating and disappointing for you. I apologize for your discomfort and inconvenience. But, I'd like to work with you to get this resolved as quickly as possible and with the least inconvenience to you as possible. We value you as a patient and want to make this right."
The office manager said nothing like this. She expressed absolutely no empathy, kindness, respect, or consideration for the patient. She failed to address important specialty care that needed to occur at this appointment. She tried to blame us for the mistakes of the front desk staff and the medical assistant. She was reluctant to admit that the front desk staff made an error. She did not offer to make things right or go out of her way to get things resolved smoothly. She did not say she would try to expedite any follow through. She never expressed any care or consideration for the patient.
Needless to say, we will not return to this practice. read more