Some Choice

“We are going to move you to either Adventist Hospital or Johns Hopkins to have a cardiac catheterization procedure.”

David Jackson, my cardiologist, had stopped by the ICU on Sunday to check up on me. I told him I was impressed that he showed up on a Sunday. He was even wearing a tie.

“It’s up to you as to where you’d prefer to go.”

I chose Hopkins. The only reason I chose Hopkins was that, having grown up in Baltimore, I always been told that Johns Hopkins was one of the best hospitals in the world. I also believed that they were particularly renowned for their work with heart patients.

I really didn’t know anything about Adventist Hospital.

Some choice, eh?

I mean, here I am, lying in a bed in the ICU unit and being asked to pick a place to have a pretty serious medical procedure performed and I don’t have so much as a brochure to look at. For all I know Adventist Hospital may actually kick Hopkins ass when it comes to this procedure. How about a sales pitch somebody?

Think about it, this procedure probably costs somewhere around 10 grand (I say somewhere because I have had a difficult time getting a handle on the exact costs…more about that in later post) and no one is pitching me on features and benefits. Maybe it is just my background in sales but I’m thinking that this is a big purchase and all I have to go on is what my cardiologist recommends.

Not that this recommendation doesn’t mean anything I just think there should be more. I think that for the money, there should be more of a sales job. Something like “Adventist Hospital has not lost a patient in a cardiac catheterization procedure for the last six months.”

Or, “This week Johns Hopkins is offering an upgraded hospital room for every cardiac catheterization plus a visit by a Ravens cheerleader.”

The heart attack guy could really help these guys with their marketing.