[albroland]

>Ever notice how the front-desk staff that serves as your docs' connection to the rest of the healthcare sector generally suck?

Compare this to for-profit clinics like One Medical, where your appointment typically starts exactly on time and front desk staff are courteous, helpful, and responsive to calls and emails. This holds true to every location of theirs I've used across major US metros (NYC, SF, PHX, CHI) [1].

Anecdotally, one time I forgot my eyedrops on a trip to SF. I tried to get a hold of my ophthalmologist's office back in NYC so they could send a prescription to a pharmacy in SF. On hold for 25 minutes, disconnected, tried one more time then gave up. Opened One Medical app, requested a virtual visit, had a Dr on a video call in 3 minutes who confirmed my eye drops and submitted the prescription to the pharmacy I was sitting in.

I'm not sure how much of it is down to profit motive and I'm sure there are tons of other confounding factors, but it's hard to not notice the huge difference in experience.

[1] I work in the healthcare industry and I'm a happy One Medical customer; I initially got it as a perk thru work but upon leaving I coughed up the money to continue using them.