Vera called

At 7:20 this evening my cell phone rang. The caller ID displayed a local, but unfamiliar number. It was Vera from my doctor's office.

I had called Vera last week. I'm in the process of adding some life insurance and the underwriters need something called an Attending Physician's Statement from my doctor. Supposedly, the underwriters had requested this a few weeks ago. But not hearing anything from them, I decided to call my doctor's office.

The call began as I expected — a series of phone prompted options leading me to a real person — Vera. I told Vera about the insurance request for the Attending Physician's Statement. She assured me their office had not received it since there was nothing in my chart about it. She did, however, have the most recent Attending Physician's Statement in my chart, and told me she would be happy to send it to the underwriters at the insurance company. All they had to do was send her a FAX and request it.

I thanked Vera and let her know I would follow up with the insurance company, which I did — last week.

Tonight at 7:20, Vera called to let me know she had not yet received a FAX from my insurance company. I was blown away. Not by the fact that my insurance company failed to contact Vera, but by the fact that at 7:20 PM on a Tuesday evening, I received a call from my doctor's office at St. Luke's Internal Medicine! Blood test results? Yes, I would expect a call. A life-threatening disease diagnosis? I would expect a call on that one, too. But a follow up to a life insurance underwriting issue? At 7:20 PM? That is one call I did not expect to get.

A few months ago I posted about my doctor's office getting online appointment setting functionality. Now, they're blowing me away with customer service. What's next? A doctor's blog that makes the whole medical experience authentic, relevant and engaging? Probably.

Vera, I'm impressed. Next time you see Dr. Perryman, you let him know I said you're doing a stellar job. You get five stars.