10 Ways Health Care Providers Can Stop Driving Patients Crazy

Okay, I took some liberties with that headline. The real title of Dan Munro's excellently trenchant blog post on Forbes.com is "10 Ways That Healthcare Can Engage Consumers."

But the more I read and cheered, the more his suggestions struck me as ways that hospitals and doctors can not so much engage us as make us feel at least a little less alienated and appalled by our health care system.

His policy point: "You can’t complain about a lack of consumer engagement in healthcare until you start treating us like something other than a means to your lucrative end."

And his suggestions range from kinder collection practices to nixing the erectile dysfunction ads on television. A couple of my favorites:

I’m not looking for a day-spa, feng-shui or zen-like experience with your waiting room. In fact, my real preference is not to sit or touch anything. Take a cue from In-And-Out Burger – we really do love that concept as it applies to healthcare waiting and exams.

And:

Do not use offshore call centers for anything. The combination of foreign accents, elderly or infirmed people (on a cocktail of medications) and complex medical terminology is enough to make us need even more meds and a double dose of behavioral health services as well. Please don’t tell me that was the intent.