How a Phone Call and Starbucks Made a Difference

Lisa Stiles / Apr 1st / Comments

Recently, my father had shoulder surgery to clean out some adhesions and repair a tear in his rotator cuff. The surgery went smoothly, and as we left the hospital with a phalanx of the sling, pain pump, cold therapy igloo with hoses, and a prescription for some pain meds, the nurse told us, “Doctor Riley will call you tonight to see how you’re doing.”

“Really?” Mom asked.
“Yes, he calls all his patients after surgery,” the nurse replied.

I was impressed but skeptical. After all, doctors are busy people. As the afternoon wore on, issues began popping up. The nurse gave us different directions than the physical therapist. The pharmacist gave different directions about the pain meds than the doctor. We were anxious about Dad’s shoulder exercises because everyone impressed upon us the need to do them religiously three times a day so his shoulder wouldn’t freeze up. But the nurse told us to keep the cold therapy on at all times, which made the exercises difficult. Confusion and worry reigned.

Then, just a little after 7 p.m., Dr. Riley called. He patiently listened to all of our questions, answered them to our satisfaction, and then said with a chuckle, “Now, I’d like to speak to the patient.” Dad’s face lit up as we handed him the phone.

Three days later we took Dad in to Dr. Riley’s practice to have the pain pump removed. While we were in the waiting room the doctor quietly walked in with a carton full of Starbucks drinks. We watched as he delivered one to each of his front office staff, and then asked us to come on back. Dad’s shoulder was healing nicely, and we were sent home with a good report.

It doesn’t take much to win a loyalty in a patient. In this case, a simple phone call from the doctor made a huge difference to my parents. And a gesture of kindness to his staff reinforced their opinion that this was someone who cared.

They still tell their friends about the phone call, and here I am blogging about it. Little things mean a lot.