Cookies with Your X-ray

Sometimes it’s the little things.

I’ve been going to doctors’ offices for, er, several years, and what I saw last week was a first. I took my step-daughter to Premier Radiology here in Nashville for some tests and lo-and-behold there was hard candy at the check-in counter! Then I saw drinks, chips and cookies right there in the waiting room!

I looked around for the box to put a buck in or a coin slot on the soft drink fridge–because a doctor’s office would never serve free food–but eventually I found a little sign that said, “Snacks Compliments of Premier Radiology.” Even classier, the cookies were the Otis Spunkmeyer kind that you bake in-house.

How I’ve longed for this kind of perk from the medical community over the years. You have to sit in those antiseptic waiting rooms for what seems like hours at a time with only old magazines to keep you company. IF they happened to have a drink machine near by–and that’s a giant “if”–you’d be out top dollar for a swig.

Interestingly, I think the gesture was largely symbolic–I didn’t see the huddled, limping hordes amassing themselves around the snack bar. But it’s a quality gesture–it beats the cookie dough out of a pen (from a drug company). What I’m saying is: it probably didn’t cost Premier all that much to bring a little personal touch to its clients lives. It might even mentally prepare you for your x-ray: maybe you could become predisposed to believing that it might be a good experience–after all, they seem to care…

What I don’t understand is why a radiology practice would offer such nicities. It’s not like you are going to come back of your own wishes for your annual check up. Maybe Premier Radiology actually sees their clients as more than fleshy dollar signs.

Imagine how the doctors we choose to patronize might benefit from spending a couple bucks and spreading a little unsolicited goodwill on its patients before they actually see the doctor. Maybe even doctors with poor bedside manner could overcome their bad rep with a little caring waiting room manner.