Setting bones in 30 minutes or....free MOVIE TICKETS?!?

Interesting article here ...

Seems a U.S. hospital is using the marketing ploys used by so many other service industries - if you come into their ER, they pledge to have you seen by a doc in less than 30 minutes or you get... an apology and a pair of movie tickets.

Now, this has BAD IDEA written all over it.

I'm fine with pizza joints offering 30 minute delivery time or you get it free. But the ER is a different place. Entirely.

If I, or (God forbid) my kids have to go to the ER, I don't want to be wondering if the doc who is treating my child is rushing thru the care in so the next patient doesn't win free movie tickets.

And a hospital offering an apology? For years, I've been in favor of apologies as a standard part of medical practice, believing that apologies could dramatically decrease malpractice suits. Every lawyer I've ever spoken to has always told me something to the effect that "Hospitals can never apologize, because that would open them up for lawsuits." I'm wondering if the marketing dept. checked with legal before launching this "free tickets" deal....

The biggest reason that this is a BAD idea is that ER stands for EMERGENCY ROOM, and emergencies (by definition) can take a highly variable amount of time. As a mental health professional I have had to wait at the ER with patients -- sometimes for what seemed like enormous amounts of time -- but I've always assumed that the ER staff is doing their best to get to everyone. It's not like I assumed they were in the backroom playing pinochle or something!

I'd be very curious to hear how the ER staff is responding to this new marketing campaign. Dollars to donuts they don't like it. And when employees aren't happy, they emotionally disconnect from their job...and everything slows down.

Bottom Line: An apology and free movies tickets in an ER Room is a BAD Leadership call!