Operator:  Hello?  How can I help you? [Not even the lame, generic “doctor’s office” you usually get with an answering service]

Me:  Oh…er…I thought I was calling my doctor’s office?

Operator:  Oh, I’ll have to transfer you. Are you an existing patient?

Yes:  Okay, please SPELL your doctor’s last name, so I can make sure I transfer you to the right place  [Spell?  Really?  Didn’t I just call his office?]

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Test #2 — NorCal

Dial number … same recorded greeting, “please hold for the next available agent.”  Hold for 25 seconds.

Operator:  Hello, can I help you?  [Again, not even an indication you’re calling a doctor.]

Me:  Oh, whom have I reached?

Operator:  Um, you’ve reached a call center for XXXXX Health.  [That’s the hospital system]

Me:  Oh, I thought I was calling a doctor’s office?

Operator:  Oh, um, XXXXX Health is using us to verify patient information — can I update your information?  [Really?  How do you know I’m a XXXXX patient?]

Me:  So, I haven’t reached the doctor’s office.  I’ve reached someone from XXXXX Health?

Operator:  Well, XXXXX Health has us gathering patient information and tracking calls from HealthGrades.

Operator:  So, are you concerned about this?  We’ve been getting a lot of complaints.  [Wow!  That was fast.  I didn’t think I’d indicated a complaint yet. They really must be getting a fair number.]

Operator:  I can pass your information on to my supervisor if you’re concerned.

Me:  So, is this Healthgrades setting up these numbers or is XXXXX Health?

Operator:  Well, my supervisor really should answer that, I’m new here.

Me:  Are you located here in Northern California?

Operator:  No, we’re national.

Me:  So, you’re answering for a number of different health systems.

Operator:  That’s right.  Are you calling from a doctor’s office, then?  I know people have had a lot of concerns.  Would it be best for you to speak with my supervisor?  They can call or email you.

Me:  Yes, that would be great. [I disclosed that I’m a consultant who has worked with a number of practices on listings.]

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So, where to begin with the issues with this diverting of calls!

1. The patient thinks they’re calling a doctor’s office.  They get a message to “hold for an agent” (and they’re thinking, HUH? am I dialing the right number?), then the phone is answered by someone clearly without any medical office training, and no apparent interest in acknowledging to the patient that they’ve reached someone who can connect them to their doctor.  This reflects badly on the practice — and they had no control over it and nothing to do with it!  Private practices stand out in a positive way by being more personal and accessible than the typical medical bureaucracy.  This phone answering is WORSE than even the typical overnight answering service.
2. Please spell your doctor’s name?  Are you kidding?  What if they connect the patient with the wrong doctor?
3. In both cases, I called the default number offered to patients on HG for the practices, which happens to be the “new patient” number*.  Why is XXXXX Health demanding personal health information from patients who dial into a call center trying to reach a particular doctor?  What if that doctor wants nothing to do with XXXXX Health, and just intends to see Dr. Y under their own insurance plan for an office visit?
4. Assuming #3 invites all kinds of privacy violations, who is liable?  (Even if the practice is not liable, naturally, this stains their brand again — and they had nothing to do with it!)
5. Above all, this hassle for patients, this confusing, unprofessional and potentially HIPAA breaching annoying experience, reflects badly on the practices involved and they had NO CHOICE in the matter.

Regarding the last point, can you imagine ANY other business in which someone would think it okay for an organization affiliated with a business to just reroute that other business’s calls to their call center to gather their customers’ personal information?

If I receive a call or email from the ‘supervisor’ at the call center, I will be sure to post the details of the interaction here.  More as it comes in ….

*In the case of one doctor, I did see that the correct direct line was retained under an extra ‘existing patient’ link — however, it is unlikely any patient would ever get there, since the call center number is splashed in multiple instances all over the main page — presumably deliberately to drive most patients to that number.