Demand Satisfaction!

Thanks to a nasty sinus infection, I had the ill fortune of ending up at the urgent care center at my local hospital last weekend. I wasn’t at all surprised when it took me more than two and a half hours to be seen by the doctor for five minutes and get my prescriptions written. It wasn’t surprising to me because I’m all too acquainted with the U.S. health care system.

These hours were mostly spent waiting sitting in uncomfortable chairs, in a seemingly unventilated room with two dozen patients with unknown infections, and bad daytime television blaring overhead. Then there were the multiple interrogations by administrators working to get me in the queue, process my insurance and document my conditions.

The whole process seemed downright medieval. I couldn’t help but fantasize how Apple would re-engineer the clinic. I’m sure they’d allow us to pre-process ourselves online (either from home or in the lobby), filling in our own insurance information and description of symptoms from a point-and-click interface. We’d get an approximate time-slot rather than waiting around for hours. Perhaps the doctors would see patients in a space-efficient set-up that kept them maximally engaged at all times–standing at a bar, with patients sitting on stools across from them. (Alright, this last part is ridiculous given strict health privacy laws, but still the simplicity of it is appealing).

I must admit that this isn’t the first time I’ve overlaid the Genius Bar solution onto a crappy customer experience problem. But why is it that the Genius Bar concept is so attractive a solution? It may be because the concept is based on the hospitality industry, in particular the concierge services offered by fine hotels. It’s not just that there are knowledgeable staff ready to fully engage with everyone with a problem–clinics have them, too–it’s that the environment and philosophy seem to be perfectly aligned with the interests of customers. Danny Meyer, the restaurateur behind Union Square Cafe and others, recently talked about the magic of hospitality at the Good Experience Live (”GEL”) conference. Peter Merholz of Adaptive Path provides the highlight:

There was a time, not too long ago, when all you needed to do was deliver Quality, and you’d succeed (see: Total Quality Management). Then when everyone offered the same quality, service was important. Now, however, the differentiator is hospitality, which Danny defined as that feeling that the people you are doing business with are “on your side.” (A firm that excels in service could still not be on your side.)

Yes, that’s the difference! Apple behaves as if it’s on my side, at least at the Genius Bar. It also explains well why doctor visits remain such unsatisfying experiences. No matter the bedside manner of individual doctors, the system itself handles patients as entities to be managed and potential liabilities to be mitigated. Thus waiting rooms feel like quarantines. But let’s be honest, it’s no easy task to be on the side of both patients and insurance companies at the same time, let alone hospital boards, pharmaceutical companies and lord knows what other interests. Let’s just agree that it makes perfect sense they’d opt to remain agnostic on the whole issue of sides.