Another beautiful, crisp, blue-sky Tuesday September 11.... I'm instantly thrown back 11 years to RSCP's Penguin class orientation, Joe's safe / welcome / total-relief arrival home by 10, Williamsburg Middle School's student escort distraction / work, Jamestown Elementary's end-of-day / last-student pick-up of Jonathan, and our safe, sweet, cozy home on Jefferson Street where we observed and absorbed, hoped and wished under suddenly silent skies....
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"Efficiency" and "respect" (specifically, the lack thereof) are 2 words that occasionally arise when discussing this crazy world of medical treatment and scheduling. Case in point: my morning telephone inquiries reveal that bloodwork has been scheduled (unilaterally of course) on Monday for 9:30 a.m. at Dalton Clinic ("please register at 9 a.m.") then an MRI is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. at Stonypoint on the other side of Richmond. Let's see ... 8 hours and 45 minutes between registration times at two different locations with an MRI needing at least an hour ... so I would be out of the house from 8 a.m. until about 8 p.m. I actually couldn't help but laugh. "No thank you," I replied. "Please let me know how we can rejiggle to create a more efficient plan." Ridiculous. How do people who have to (or are lucky enough to) WORK even begin to tackle this schedule? How lucky am I that Joe has a job and culture that is flexible and compassionate enough to allow him all this time off? What would happen, God forbid, if our health insurance was tied to my work given that I am no longer able to work?
Efficient and respectful scheduling doesn't seem to be a bedrock here. Why am I always surprised? Carolyn points out that we are a captive audience and that customer service (in terms of scheduling) is simply not a factor. Yes, I agree but all of these schedules are in a software database. Isn't it possible that such a database could flag when appointments are almost 9 hours apart? C'mon folks ....
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