You don't mess with Mike Pt. 2

I had to get my allergy shots yesterday. If you think it couldn't have gotten any worse, from my last post, it did. It took 90 minutes, an hour and a half. I get to Kaiser at 3:30 right after my dad and we check in. 15, 20, 30, 45, and 60 minutes roll around. We were told by Ms. Timmie to go sit down when we inquired why we weren't called after 30 minutes and neither had anyone else. It is 4p.m. and my mom arrives. After 70 minutes my dad was called. He was not happy and went down to Member Services to complain. I waited another 20 minutes and was finally called. NOT ONE PERSON WAS CALLED IN THE MEANTIME.

I get in there and another nurse, who I haven't mentioned was giving shots. Timmie had disappeared and I think she did so intentionally. Vickie called me and thanked me for being so patient and told me that the reason it took so long for me to get my shot today was that there is a new system where you book an appointment to get an allergy shot. I told her that's not going to work for me and I was not about to make an appointment, especially when HER service (I meant allergy, but wanted to make it personal) has declined and everyone has become so rude, it is not about the customer anymore. She said I agree. 70 minutes after arriving, at 5:20 (20 minutes after me) my mom was called. There were 4-5 people who arrived after my mom- who knows when they were called. Allergy closed at 4:30, or was supposed to.

After everyone has our shots we go to dinner at Carrows. We talk about how disgusted we are. My dad receives a call from the head of the Allergy/Dermatology Dept. at 6p.m. She was contacted on her cell phone about the poor service and she wants to assure us the new appointment system where you have to schedule your appointment weeks in advance will be so beneficial. We get shots every week at 4:00 on Thursday at their busiest time, is this going to work? Think we're going to be able to get an appointment? My dad argued with her for 30 minutes and didn't get anywhere. My dad handled everything the best he could given the circumstances.

Now here's what I did. I called and left a voicemail on this Georgina's phone, she is the head of the Allergy/Dermatology Dept. at 8:30a.m. this morning when Kaiser Allergy/Dermatology opens. On my way to school this morning about 9:30 I call Kaiser's 800 number and asked to speak to Member's Services. I was transferred to some lady named Jessie from who knows what Kaiser or if it is some centralized office. She said she would forward my complaint to the Allergy Dept. I called back right after I did this and asked to speak to Dr. Lai. Dr. Lai never answers her phone, so I left a message telling her about my displeasure. By 12p.m. I hadn't received a call back from Georgina yet. I decided I could be even meaner. I call and ask who Georgina's boss is. I said I had called several times asking to speak to her and had never received a call back. Georgina's boss Dave comes on the line within 5 minutes and I harped on how that is not good customer service to not follow up to a complaint. He agreed and thanked me for taking the time to go up the hierarchy.

Georgina calls me at 12:30 and says she was "soooooooo sorry to hear about everything." She talked about how she has overseen this operation and she knows it works. She was the one who chose to implement it. Every point I could I interrupted her. I told her making an appointment, the new system is not feasible for commuters. I explained how I commute 30 miles to get my shot. I do. I work 30 miles away on Thursday's. She finally conceded and she said "well, this is for the retirees who come." I said "retirees? How many do you see waiting in the waiting room? It is not- it is commuters." She said "well, I'm hiring extra nurses to work with allergy." I said that's not going to help because the majority of the people who come, like myself, are commuters. There is something called TRAFFIC. I may arrive at 3:30, 3:45, 4p.m., etc. Only having a 15 minute window in which I can get my shot is not feasible. She said she was really sorry. I said that's not acceptable. She said this 15 minutes gives the nurses time to prepare the antigen because she is a mathematical person, to which I added "My ass." Anyways, she's a mathematical person, has used a timer, and determined it takes 15 minutes to prepare each patient's antigen. The nurse is able to focus, look 3 times to see they have prepared the right antigen, and then check you in. I said that it was never like that before- there are photos on our charts AND in the computer of who we are, and there is a small identical photo on our shot antigen, so there is no issue there. She said this is her new way she has created to ensure things will work smoothly. I said it is more inefficient, the quality of care has declined, and the nurses are downright rude. I mentioned my incident last month where Ms. Timmie chased me down. She said she was appauled and has received complaints about a "dominant nurse." She said that Timmie will be spoken to.

Anyways, finally after 30 minutes of arguing she let me know that the appointment thing, especially after yesterday is not going to work. She has a new plan to create a more intimate setting. The door on the allergy injection room will be closed. When everyone arrives they will be given a little carnival style ticket, or raffle ticket, and we'll be called based on the order of that.The nurse will then have 10 minutes to prepare each antigen for each patient. The nurses will then have 5 minutes to spend with us. I said again, that is inefficient. Giving us a raffle ticket means the receptionist will have to walk into the allergy injection room, set the ticket down, given that it is a small ticket could easily be lost, which would result in further inefficiency. The walkup method is simply more efficient and it works. She told me to try it out a week. I said I will, but I am not going to go back to her. I told her I spoke to her boss earlier and I plan to do it again. I'm going to go back to Dave, her boss, if it is not faster to get an allergy shot. I have Dave's direct line.

So now I'm waiting for next week when I get my ticket...