This is a guest post by my partner, Dave.
When you visited the doctor’s office a few years ago, a nice person at the front desk would ask to see your identification and insurance card.
Not any more.
I accompanied my wife to her doctor’s office today. At the front desk, the receptionist pointed at a computerized kiosk in the waiting area. “You can check in there,” she said. Then she pointed at a QR code posted on the wall. “Or you can download the app and check in.”
We slipped into line behind an elderly woman at the kiosk and watched her struggle for several minutes before she gave up in despair and looked for someone to help her. Another patient in the waiting area spent several minutes trying to set up an account on the app.
I’ve been programming computers for about half a century and I have seen examples of computers used well.
This was not one of those.
This was an example of a corporation that made a pact with the Devil to save—what, a dollar?—in exchange for sucking the humanity out of the healthcare workers and the patients.
A doctor’s office is supposed to be a place of healing. But healing is best done with a personal touch, not by throwing patients into the gears of a soulless machine.