Why Do We Settle in Healthcare?

Imagine your typical Friday night. You’ve worked hard all week and now you’re ready to watch Netflix. You’ve picked the perfect movie. You’re ready to watch. You hit a button and your movie is right there, available and on demand. But what if it didn’t work? You’d be annoyed. You’d hop on social media to complain or see if Netflix is down. Someone somewhere would hear you.

Monica StoutOn Black Friday or Cyber Monday, you might visit Walmart.com to search for some holiday deals. These are the busiest shopping days of the year. What if the website didn’t work? Or, what if you had to enter your shipping and billing data every single time you viewed an item? You’d be outraged. You might hop on social media to complain or see if others are experiencing the same problem. Someone somewhere would hear you.

Now imagine it’s the middle of winter and you’ve caught the latest bug du jour. You call your doctor for an appointment. When you arrive, you’re handed a clipboard and asked to fill out the same repetitive paper form with your health information that you fill out every time you visit. You’re certain they have this information already, but you’re required to fill it out yet again. You might wait 30, 40, or 60 minutes past your appointment time before you’re called back to a room...