Not your usual customer service

So I work for a company that basically sends out medical aids. I specifically work in a department that gives people medical aids out of their insurance. To do my job I need to sort of make prescriptions for the medical aids. Some people need beds to die in a some just need some aids to help them get around and others have life long disabilities. I need to know the law, the aids and be able to write these prescriptions. As you might expect this means that I can see a lot of personal information, just like a select few coworkers. This however isn’t the case for most people working in the company.

Even tho’ you can keep the aids for 6 months untill you need to ask for them at your local government institute, we send out letters at 2 months of use, because the government can be terribly slow. Most people however don’t need more than 6 months of use and this often leads to calls, because the letters are standardized. Again… we can’t make a distinction between medical needs, because this is very private information.

This also leads to some weird notes from and to coworkers. You can’t say “Bob isn’t able to get out of his bathtub due to weak muscles, and therefore the current medical aid is is insufficient and we need to replace it with this medical aid.” But we can say “Medical aid 1 isn’t working, get medical aid 2” There is absolutly no one who can question any decision I make.

Ok… back to the topic. Today I got a lady that was absolutly appalled that we send her a letter. I explained to her that even tho’ she doesn’t have a need to use them for more than 6 months, there are plenty people who do. To make sure that people don’t pay for their own medical aid (they are extremly expensive) we send out these letters. “OK BUT I FIND IT APPALING THAT I GOT THIS LETTER, IT WASNT MEANT FOR ME.” “Madam, we can’t make that destinction to protect your and others privacy.” She said she understood, but immediately went back to “Well, ok you’re a weird company and I still find it absolutly crazy that you send me a letter that wasn’t meant for me.” I have absolutly no time for this bullshit, when people are in need of a bed, because they are quite literally dieing. I told her the information she needed regarding her medical aid and even extended the period she could rent one of her medical aids (that wasn’t covered by insurance) free of charge. Because you know… sometimes we do and we understand that some people need help. Even after all of that she was still mad an basically calling us horrible for sending that letter. So I did what I usually do. Ramble all the specifications and information she needed in one big breath and then said “Do you have anymore questions?” She stuttered a no. “No?” “Allright then I wish you very well. Have a nice day.” Ofcourse people can’t resist to say “Goodbye.” I mute my phone and go on with my day. Not much of a spectacle, but still needed to get it of my chest.

Here are the basics for anybody who wants to get a medidal aid at expense of insurance: 1. You are not the customer. Your insurance is. 2. I am not going to tell you how sick you need to be in order to get an aid. You tell me. 3. You can call you insurance, and they will do… absolutly nothing. 4. You don’t get the aid while you don’t need them, you don’t get a speciality bed because you like the convenience. Your only taking away a bed from somebody who’s really in need if you do. 5. All people trained to do medical prescriptions can see eachothers notes. Calling back doesn’t work, if you don’t have new information that will qualify you for the aid.