Healthcare

I have been working one year for a medical center and this is my first job in the healthcare industry. My job is to do the budget for the Nutrition and Food Services in the hospital. I learned a lot about Joint Commision and patient care. This has given me a new perspective on the healthcare system in the United States.

I pay a lot more attention to the quality of care and customer service when I go to see my doctors at UCSF and Stanford Hospital. There is a major difference in customer service between UCSF and Stanford. UCSF is in San Francisco and most of the patients are middle class. But the patients don't know how to dress and look like they are from low income families. In contrast, Stanford patients dress professionally and they look very nice. The doctors and staff at Stanford provide excellent customer service wheras UCSF doctors are well known to be rude. A lot of people agree with me.

Stanford's primary care have same day appointments and an online website to order prescriptions and request lab test results. UCSF doesn't have those options. UCSF is much closer to my home and Stanford is closer to my office. There is a shortage of primary care physicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is why most of them no longer accept new patients.

There are millions of unisured people in the United States and they are going to the emergency room at hospitals. Our healthcare costs are rising and many employers are making employees pay more for their health insurance. Universal health insurance will increase the competition between hospitals for patients and that is why customer service is so important now.