The Long and Winding Road

K.eep
I.t
S.imple
S.tupid

There are companies that do workflow studies. They observe your operations and note where you can save time, money, energy, and aggravation.
I try to do this myself. Yesterday's example is how NOT to save time.

We faxed a prior auth request to a prescriber.
A couple hours later I get this voicemail.

Random Office Lady: We received a fax for a prior auth from you. The name got cut off but I have the date of birth. Can you refax it to us so we can read the name. It looks like it was a problem on your end. But the name got cut off and we can't read it. Here's our phone number in case you have any questions.

She did not tell me her name. She did not tell me the office name. Only a date of birth and their phone number. That is less information than she received on my fax.

CP: Here's a question for you. Why the hell couldn't you have pressed the option for "Speak to Pharmacist"? or "Prescriber's Office"? Simple. Ask for the pharmacist, get the name, write the name on the paper, start the prior auth process. If you need another copy, ASK for it while you have me on the phone. Perhaps I should leave a voicemail with just the patient's name. You already called my phone number.

That's like the out-of-town office that used to have their ROL call us. We'd answer and they'd hurriedly say "doctor has a prescription and you need to call him back". They didn't want to pay for long distance. YOU ALREADY HAVE ME ON THE PHONE!