Patient Parsing or Words and Numbers

      In the vast and mysterious medical world of patient  encounters,(Yes, that's what they call them--you can look it up) I have come to the conclusion that numbers trump words, almost every time.
    Test the theory. Walk into a medical office, prepared to state your case. That means you want to explain your condition or your concerns, if you have any, or to relate any perceived changes, or just to understand what has, or is, occurring in the mortal coil you know as your body.  Nine times out of ten, your doctors, or your medical providers, are sitting in front of a printout of your latest medical tests or notes presented by an assistant of some order.  It would be the first time the doctors have seen them, or thought of the patient to whom they applied.  That would be you. When they  turn from the computer and ask how you are doing, it's up to you whether to respond with your health issues, or to just take the query as a greeting, and respond accordingly.  "Fine, thank you. And yourself?"
   It doesn't matter, either way.  Your words are not supreme. The doctors rely on the numbers. What you utter is soon forgotten.   You will be directed into the cattle chute of possibilities indicated by your numbers, not your words.  And therefore more technical  data, fit to be deciphered into statistics which too often defy any meaningful verbal transition.

It's About the Value, Stupid

    From a magazine in the opthalmology office, a publication intended for professionals, but found strewn on the waiting room table amid copies of "People" and other such light  reading: the article is entitled "It's About Value" and addresses the issue of how much to charge,
   A doctor has emailed his concern that what he charges for a pair of eyeglasses shocks even him.  The doctor is advised that as long as he keeps his pricing complaints to less than 20% of his patients, he is okay.  Pricing complaints can not be regarded as being in a vacuum.
   The author, a doctor, relates a time-honored equation:
      "Value=Quality / Price, or Value =Perceived benefits / Price."
When the price is constant, you need to increase quality and perceived benefits.  Remember there are 2 prices in every transaction---the anticipated perceived price and the actual price.  THAT IS WHY A MERCEDES DOESN'T COST $14, the advising doctor states.  The brand radiates a perception of high quality with the associated expectation of high price.
    So, if you, the questioning and somewhat appalled doctor, are profit driven, and what doctor isn't, you want to attract patients who perceive your pricing as on the higher end of the scale, and equate high value with high price.  When they actually see the higher prices, their expectations are met.
     Two scenarios are set:
         #1---Eyeglasses sold by a disinterested salesperson, which are sloppily presented on a tray with no case.
        #2--Eyeglasses presented by a highly educated (trained) salesperson who offers a soft drink and a story about how the frames are made, supplies a nice eyeglass case, and then follows up with thank-you emails.
    The author triumphantly posits that the eyeglasses are exactly the same in both examples.  But which frame has the higher value--- Aha!  The obvious answer is that exemplary service helps to support higher product fees.  The "value" is increased, and thereby soothes the doctor shocked by the price of his own product.
   So even if a Mercedes were  a bucket of bolts, its reputation would justify its high price, and that, dear eyeglass buyer, is why you pay an exorbitant price for the eyeglass frames sold at your friendly eye-doctor's establishment.
   *The author of the above-cited article is the president of an organization which "specializes in making optometrists more profitable."

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"And learn our souls are all we own...
  And maybe we won't feel so all alone
 Before we turn to stone."

Factors 3

Isolation, Independence, Identity

Hole-in-the-Wall

         The surface looks smooth, pristine even,
          As if nothing had ever happened.
         But damage had been done:
         A jagged hole laid open,
         A visible throbbing reminder
         That nothing can stay the same
          Forever.

The Un-Numb

   The dentist asked if I wanted the numb needle for a small filling, in the area at the junction of crown and tooth.  I thought he should know so I said probably not.  The procedure was uncomfortable, not to mention painful.  "Next time, " he said, "we'll go for numbness, because I don't like to see people in pain. I'm not a masochist."  "No," I told him.  "You mean sadist. The masochist is the one in the chair."

Life / File Anagram

    I was at the medical office today, for routine visit, though a few years overdue.  The intake nurse, updating my records, asked the usual questions, including,  "You have an allergy to penicillin, and Zoloft?"  Yes, to penicillin.  But, no, I have never taken or even been prescribed Zoloft.   Whose file  is this anyway?