Thursday, March 1, 2012

Mary's desk, February 29, 2012

Mr. Irritant: "Hello?"

Mary: "Hi, this is Mary, calling from Dr. Grumpy's office. Your MRI is back, and so I'm calling to schedule your EMG."

Mr. Irritant: "Did he tell you that? Or are you just wanting him to do the test?"

Mary: "He told me to schedule it, sir. He says that the MRI didn't show a cause for your arm symptoms, so he needs to do an EMG to see if there's any damage in the arm itself."

Mr. Irritant: "Can he get on the phone himself and tell me this? I don't trust you desk people."

Mary: "I can have him call you later, but he's with a patient right now."

Mr. Irritant: "I want to hear it from him. I know you desk people work on commission based on tests you schedule."

19 comments:

Julie said...

really? what an odd arrangement?

Grumpy, M.D. said...

New one to both of us. I've never heard of a medical office that paid their staff on that basis.

The Evil Receptionist said...

"You desk people" is sweeping the nation, I've heard that phrase twice this week.

Anonymous said...

so Grumpy are you now rethinking compensation arrangements.

Lawyers have that kind of thing but they call them runners, not desk people

C said...

Mary must be wealthy by now...bwhahahaha urgh.

OMDG said...

I'll bet Mary wishes she worked on commission. She'd probably be far better paid....

Mommy Attorney said...

LOL! Where do people come up with this stuff?

a.generic doc said...

If it works for service writers at auto dealers, maybe it would be good for "desk people" in a neurologist's office.

Mary can make even more if she schedules an oil change for the patient's car to be done while you do the EMG.

brent said...

Sounds like paranoia with a touch of psychois. Maybe some risperadol would help those arm symptoms.

Anonymous said...

... and what's Mary's cut when she sells a patient on the undercarriage coating?

El Tigre said...

I've come across similar logic before with people. Basically,if they don't understand how a system operates they automatically assume a malevolent group of supergeniuses is using the system to manipulate them.

Did I spell "supergeniuses" correctly? Crap!

History Doc said...

Given the teeth-pulling, hair-tangling, fax-machine-drowning minutia necessary to schedule even the simplest test?

They probably should.

Anonymous said...

Forget the commission and give Mary Danger Pay.

Lisa said...

Other than being ignorant, it was rude! Why would anyone think it is acceptable to say that to someone else. You should charge him double and give Mary a bonus for not unloading on him.

tbunni said...

I'm not showing this to our referral specialist, she'll want commission, too! I'm pretty sure kickbacks are still against the law, same as self-referral...

Bean Counter said...

"The Desk People" sounds like a bad B Movie.

Anonymous said...

Since you're obviously the one paying Mary on commission (and therefore the one with the most to gain), why would he accept it from you any more than from her?

Debbie said...

Is it just me, or does anyone else think people in general are just stupider than they used to be?

Mad Jack said...

Say, Grump? If you're going to pay on commission I know a few out of work telephone solicitors that would be glad to have a chance at selling a few tests. Does 10% sound okay to you?

 
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