bureaucratic woes

Once again I get to pick on the practices of our national health service. Complete obsession with measurements may have their purpose, but only if you are measuring the right things. Unfortunately in this case, measurement of the wrong things continues to take place and yet government and the practitioners are amazed they are not getting the results they want – go figure!

An example: at our local doctor offices we are now able to book appointments more than a day in advance (wow – the wonders of wonders!). Their system has been adapted so that patients can now book up to eight weeks in advance. HOWEVER, ( and this is important) only if they are able to arrange a “ringback” (telephone appointment) to discuss your issue first.

Quite slick in a twisted sort of way – they are measured by the number of appointments they hold. By forcing a “ringback” prior to an appointment, they have assured themselves a 2-for-1 deal!

And here I thought measuring patient health might be a pretty good indicator, or a measuring improving patient conditions, in fact anything to do with the patient might actually be considered important, but not in this bureaucracy…those boxes aren’t easy enough to tick!

Sometimes the measures are not easy, that does not mean they are not important – maybe more so than the simple quantitative ones. Your systems are tools – adjust them to fit the important stuff – not the other way around.

© management mojo 2008. All rights reserved.

don’t let the machines take over!

Sometimes I could really pull my hair out with accountants. They can be so frustrating in their narrow view of the world, even so much so that all rational thought is non-existent as they talk about their “rules”.

I work with an accounting firm who spends so much time managing their internal accounting system of work-in-progress, write-offs, provisions, revenue booked and unbooked, cash, fixed pricing, time-cost pricing, etc, the list could go on. Their engagement with clients is so confusing for the poor client, because they use all these accounting-speak-terms to debate the fee to be paid.

Drop the lingo and speak English, please! Tell the client how much it is going to cost and bill that figure. If you screw up your estimate, its your fault. I would rather retain the relationship.

Don’t let your system dictate how you interact with clients. If a good year is when you have 60% recovery on your invoiced fees, you are not exactly building client relationships. I don’t care what the accounting system tells you!

In this world of management information tools, let us not let common sense erode. Don’t let the machines take over…use your head, speak to your client, win the business relationship.

© management mojo 2008. All rights reserved.

computer says no…

Does the concept of service actually exist in the public sector? When dealing with the national healthcare organisation, are patients not the equivalent of clients? I would have thought so, yet when dealing with this beast of an organisation you wouldn’t think so.

How hard can it be to ask a patient, looking for an appointment, when they would like to come in? Seems reasonable doesn’t it? Yet when my wife called in this morning, she had to bang her head against the “computer says No” mentality (thanks Little Britain – perfectly sums up so many problems in business!).

Summary of conversation when booking appointment:

Doctor surgery: “We only take appointments on a rotational basis. The next appointment is at 10 am. If that’s no good, you’ll have to call back later for a later appointment once this one is full.”

Wife: “Can’t I just make an appointment for 11 am now?”

Doctor surgery: “Not until we have filled the 10 am slot”.

I never know whether I should laugh or cry in these situations! I am sure they have all sorts of “rational” explanations for their logic including maximising resources and avoiding wasted time, etc, but the crux of the matter is this: your systems have been designed around your needs, not the patient’s – by definition they are therefore incorrect and ineffective to reach patient satisfaction.

When did the computers take over and people stop thinking for themselves? Did I miss something?