Improving the care experience

It seems like every time I visit a doctor I find something to say about the experience.

Because it's just that, an experience. One that far too few practitioners care to make better.

Consider my most recent expedition. A kludgy website. A barren reception room. Banal colors. An awkward nurse. The fact that I had to sign a bundle of paperwork when I just wanted a simple checkup (why couldn't I have done it at home?)

Or consider the case of waiting. Why do I need to wait to see a nurse to check my blood pressure* and ask about my weight, only to be shuffled into another room to wait for another nurse, and then the doctor? Why isn't it all streamlined, so that I can't so much as enter the building without seeing all the people I need to see without waiting? That sure seems more hygienic, or at least, productive.

Yes, hospitals and care centers need to be sterile, and they need to keep busy. But that doesn't mean there's no room for creativity, efficiency, or ingenuity.

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*Related: Knowing the value of one number over another is not nearly as helpful as knowing what those two numbers mean.