Monday, August 12, 2024

Annie's desk

Phone person #1: "Thank you for calling Low-Cost Radiology, where our prices reflect our quality every day! Can I help you?"

Annie: "Hi, this is Annie, at Dr. Grumpy's office. I'm trying to get insurance approval for a patient to have an MRI there, and to submit the form I need your facility's tax ID number."

Phone person #1: "What's a tax ID number? Is it how much we paid in taxes? Last year I paid..."

Annie: "No, it's the number your facility is assigned for tax and business purposes. The insurance companies need it so they can pay you for the MRI."

Phone person #1: "Is that the same as my social security number? I can give you that. It's 738..."

Annie: "No. It's the assigned..."

Phone person #1: "Let me transfer you."

 

On hold with a subdued piano & cello version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

 

Phone person #2: "Thank you for holding. Can I help you?"

Annie: "Hi, this is Annie, at Dr. Grumpy's office. I'm trying to get insurance approval for a patient to have an MRI there, and to submit the form I need your facility's tax ID number."

Phone person #2: "Hmmm... Is that the number you just called to reach us?"

Annie: "No, that's your phone number. It's..."

Phone person #2: "Oh, is that like a special number the IRS calls us on?"

Annie: "No it's..."

Phone person #2: "Let me transfer you."

 

On hold with a subdued piano & cello version of "Safety Dance."

 

Phone person #3: "Thank you for holding. Can I help you?"

Annie: "Hi, this is Annie, at Dr. Grumpy's office. I'm trying to get insurance approval for a patient to have an MRI there, and to submit the form I need your facility's tax ID number."

Phone person #3: "I don't think we have one."

Annie: "No, you do, every business has one, it's assigned to you before you open by the..."

Phone person #3: "Let me transfer you." 


On hold with a subdued piano & cello version of "Paint It Black."

 

Phone person #4: "Thank you for holding. Can I help you?"

Annie: "Hi, this is Annie, at Dr. Grumpy's office. I'm trying to get insurance approval for a patient to have an MRI there, and to submit the form I need your facility's tax ID number."

Phone person #4: "Oh, hang on. Let me look that up for you. Hmmm. I thought I had it on a Post-It note somewhere... maybe it's behind the take-out menu for Blumenthal's Chinese... no, maybe it got stuck to the menu for the place we ordered lunch from on Monday, I can't remember the name though... that may be over by the fax machine with the Chipotle forms, hang on... you know, I may have accidentally thrown it out because a bunch of stuff got marinara sauce on it when I was eating yesterday... let me transfer you."

 

On hold with a subdued piano & cello version of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

 

Phone person #5: "Thank you for holding. Can I help you?"

Annie: "Hi, this is Annie, at Dr. Grumpy's office. I'm trying to get insurance approval for a patient to have an MRI there, and to submit the form I need your facility's tax ID number."

Phone person #5: "I hate you phishing scams. Fuck off."

click

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you sure she wasn't calling a mechanic's shop?

Anonymous said...

Give Annie a BIG raise.

jimbo26 said...

When in doubt, pass it on .

Anonymous said...

Having a nationalised health service would be awful because of all the admin overhead and paperwork, right? Right???

danielle said...

Which totally explains the lack of followup for the patients too,....

Packer said...

Insurance and Cable Company customer service all in one, novel idea

 
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