Why Is Fortis Healthcare Not Able To Answer A Simple Question?

So it has been more than a week and Fortis has still not replied to my query, I sent them an email and also posted on their Facebook page where I was promised they will get back to me soon.

Meanwhile I have been hearing lot of complaint from the general public regarding carelessness. People are telling me not to have any hopes of change or of ever hearing anything from them. I don’t know what is taking them so long to figure it out, my question was pretty simple. Why should one register, paying 500/900 bucks every time they enter Fortis hospital for the treatment? On Fortis’s website there is a picture of Mr. Ashish Bhatia asking people for their feedback, to share their experience with Fortis, I wonder what’s point of all that if they can’t take criticism and get back to people on time regarding query/concerns? 

Here’s what I had written to Mr. Bhatia…

Dear Mr. Ashish Bhatia,

Greetings

I have a query and I think it is a serious issue and must be addressed on priority. I have been a Fortis member in Bangalore for 2 years now. I first registered at the Cunningham branch, when due to some reason I had to go visit the Bannerghatta branch I was again asked to register which I found very strange. What is the point of being a member if you have to register paying around Rs. 500 again and again at every branch and, that too, within the city? 

Recently during my visit to Delhi I had to visit a dentist at Fortis in Vasant Kunj branch as an emergency where I was informed by the receptionist that I have to register yet again and pay Rs. 900 this time! I informed the receptionist that I’m a Fortis member and have 2 registration numbers, why do I have to register all over again. This is very stressful and unnecessary trouble for a patient when he/she is already a member. To which he responded, “Sorry madam, you have to register!”

Fortis claims to be a “leading, pan Asia –Pacific, integrated Healthcare delivery provider” and has a vision of becoming a global leader. You spend so much money on branding and advertising, not to mention making the hospital look like a 5 star hotel. Is that where my registration money is going?

Why isn’t there a facility where once a member is registered, their registration number is their ID in every branch? I don’t see how one can aim to be a global leader if such simple processes are not in place otherwise what’s the difference between Fortis and other hospitals? It just looks better but that’s not the reason why people visit a hospital, they go there to get help and treatment without getting more stressed out! A member is supposed to receive certain benefits, one of the reasons why a system of membership exists.  

Mr. Bhatia, I’m very disappointed with this experiences and I’m sure this is something which could have already been sorted out. I would like to know why not.

I hope I don’t get ignored or put on to various people who give me false assurance and excuses. Please do respond and take measures to make the changes in the registration process.

Sincere regards,

 

Series of Unfortunate Events & Stupid Healthcare Delivery

It is said that we use only 10 % of our brain; it represents 3 % of body weight and uses 20% of body's energy. Yet we seem to think so much every day, we plan and schedule our days, weeks and months. From education, career growth to financial growth and security, we try to take care of every aspect of our lives.

Conditioned over the centuries to plan, live and behave in a certain way, pushing our brains to overwork and take on more and more stress. The stress levels are shooting at top speed, diseases are catching up with us faster and more frequently. We join meditation and healthcare classes, turn to spirituality and seek help in the weirdest places possible to find peace. But what do you do when you are hit with a series of “unfortunate events”? How do you cope with the daily hits?

The last one month has been something like that for me; I seem to be finding all the bumps and potholes on the roads. My health has been playing rotten tricks on me, coupled with that, the endless trouble shooting of the day to day affairs. 

Shifting to a new house every year sort of makes you an expert in few things like packing and unpacking, living out of suitcases and boxes to basically living like a hippie! You learn to adjust and become self proclaimed problem solver when it comes to getting cartons and cello-tape for knickknacks, or locating the nearest grocery or medical shops in a span of 5 minutes. Finding the quickest and less congested traveling route and cooking makeshift dinner for yourself; yeah, that feeling of independence and power does give you a high initially. But after a point you get sick and tired of repeating this annual cycle. You want stability, to belong to one house you can call home and feel like you are in one. 

The stability bug bit me this year, and I swore that I will find a place where I can stay on for a reasonable time; any duration more than one year sounds very reasonable right now. And I almost did, a cozy place I can call my humble abode. A place that I don’t have to share with anyone; where I can live on my own terms and conditions. “Ah, finally the victory is mine” moment came to an end just two weeks after shifting. 

The daily firefighting began, with that came the news of my travel to Delhi, the city of rape and abuse!
My stay in Delhi was short and completely devoted to my training schedule. Soon I heard the news of Tarun Tejpal’s case... every time I visit Delhi some terrible news related to assault on women follows. Another painful news followed soon; my right jaw ached nonstop for 3 days. So severe the pain was that I had to visit the Fortis hospital in emergency, being a member of Fortis I thought things would be smoother. How wrong was I and how efficient Murphy (the Law of Murphy) was! I had wait in line for 15 minutes to register again in Delhi Fortis hospital; in fact you have to register every time you visit a new branch. What stupidity! What’s the point of membership if you have to register and go through long sickening formality process during emergency? They charged me 900 hundred buck for the registration, when I asked the receptionist why they are following such a silly process which is so troublesome and confusing for a patient, all he could do is say, "sorry madam you have to register!" Ya dude, my sole existence on this planet is only so I can register myself at new a Fortis outlet every time I fall sick.  

Fortis claims to be a “leading, pan Asia –Pacific, integrated Healthcare delivery provider” and they have a vision of becoming a global leader. They are making profit in crores and they plan to take strategic decisions to focus growth in India. 
 
My Terrible Idea? I plan to take this up with them because this just doesn’t make any sense to me, if you can’t provide basic solution in the healthcare sector what good are you as a global leader?

Penning Down My Journey

I had to take a train to Delhi for work few days ago, due to sudden change in plan the journey became sort of last minute with only a day to prepare. Sometimes, no matter how well you plan you end up doing firefighting because nothing goes the way you had imagined.

Just to avoid such situations I reached the station one and half hour early and waited for my train. It was a good opportunity for people watching. The lady who was cleaning the platform was in a foul mood as people kept dirtying the area she had cleaned. Children were crying and shouting for their parents’ attention and their parents were completely occupied with saying goodbyes, hellos, buying snacks for the journey or talking to their relatives.  Vendors dealing with dozens of customers swiftly, this is when they make quick bucks. Railway station is where you see a plethora of emotions pouring out, some are nervous, sad, lost, happy, some are excited, irritated or hyper. 

It was time for my train to leave, the engine shouted in protest as it pushed through the tracks. The night was painful, my right jaw and every nerve leading to my teeth ached. The intensity was enough to make me want to cry out but I didn’t want to scare my co passengers. I opted for the best option, popped a Crocin and imagined mini doctors treating my jaw to make the pain go away. 

As we passed Andhra Pradesh, I saw garbage spread next to tracks, the lake was littered with plastic and non-degradable junk. It seems no one is bothered to clean or patrol the area to ensure that no one throws anything. The railway authorities and the passengers continue to treat every place as public property when it comes to using and abusing the land and lake. After a point it seems pointless to ask people not to throw garbage on streets, throwing them in the dustbins seems like a better idea! Parents never seem to be bothered when their children toss chocolate wrappers on the road; once I glared at a father of a 6 year old so hard that he mumbled something while picking up the wrapper his kid had thrown on the footpath. My journey across cities always brings out this harsh reality to surface that we are lazy beings, wrapped in a bubble of our own, refusing to act when needed and crying, instead, at our so called helplessness to do anything useful.

The weather was sleepy; it even rained a little bit and the sun was hiding behind the clouds. Just like our conscience…About time we wake up from the slumber of denial.