Healthcare – Financial or Service Oriented

I had an interesting discussion earlier this week.  The question was whether people view their healthcare companies as a financial company (i.e., cost is the dominant factor and/or the cost to value tradeoff) or as a service company (i.e., my experience at the doctor’s office, hospital, pharmacy, call center).

I am sure it is not universal, but it would be an important attribute to understand in driving communications with patients.  The easiest example I always use is the paper claims process.  Imagine getting rejected at the pharmacy and having to pay $200 for your prescription.  For some, $200 is a huge cash flow issue while for others it is simply a nuisance.  Where that person is coming from will vary their perception of that same experience dramatically.

For the person with the $200 cash flow issue, a reject forces them to either tradeoff medications versus food or heat.  Therefore, you are denying them care and possibly causing them harm.  For the other person, they pay the cash and are simply ticked off.  For them, it then becomes a customer service issue of how easy it is to submit a claim and how quickly they get reimbursed.