August 2017

My friends and I racked our brains trying to come up with a title that adequately describes the phenomenon that features in this week’s blog. It’s something that I thought, for the longest time, was just happening to me. After speaking with other wheelchair using friends, I’m hazarding a guess that that I’m not the only one.
So what is this mysterious phenomenon? It’s the general attitude of imposition those with physical limitations experience when dealing with their various service companies. That includes adapted vehicle dealers and medical supply companies that service things like walkers, hospital beds, lifts, and of course, wheelchairs. It’s not all companies or the companies as a whole, but a good portion of people at them that don’t even bother to pretend that I am, in fact, a customer; that they should be catering to me on my time, as a person with specific needs, which are their job to care about. Oh no, as a client with mobility challenges I am often lucky if I even get a call back within a few days. That’s even if my chair is having major malfunctions. Yet my service company’s answering machine says that calls made before three PM will be answered the same day and those calls received after three will be answered the following business day. I have never been called back on the same day. In fact the service department has never even answered the phone. Generally, I wait around a week for a response.
My friend Ashley, a paraplegic who uses a manual chair, said this when I asked her about her experience with her medical supplier, “Before I moved, I had planned on getting new tires for my chair. It took weeks for him to get back to me, just to tell me he was quitting and couldn’t get them for me.” My friend Morgan who is also a quadriplegic had much the same thing to say, “When it takes a week to return a phone call for a repair, it’s a little ridiculous.”
I have waited and waited for calls back when I’ve needed a repair, and often I’ll let repairs build up so that I don’t have to spend my time pestering, only to be ignored. I’ve waited upwards of a month to have my wheelchair fixed with a manual chair as a backup. As anyone with special needs knows, living without the necessities, like my wheelchair is essentially taking my legs and saying, “Sorry. This is going to take a while.” It’s simply unacceptable.
Over the years I’ve accumulated my share of stories. Like the time I waited almost a year just for bearings for my shower chair when my wheels were about to fall off. My most recent fiasco where it took six months for me to get a new wheelchair that would go into my new adapted truck when the maximum waiting time should have been two and a half months.
In the case of this last scenario, every delay was due to the poor communication between manufacturers, vendors, and representatives of both wheelchair and adaptive truck companies. They ended up either dropping the ball, dragging their feet, or shoulder shrugging as if they couldn’t give a care, even as they were paid to. The combined payment to the vendors was upwards of $100,000.00. That’s not Fortune 500 billions, but that’s not chump change either. Spending of that magnitude should at least afford me some respect and prompt service. It certainly shouldn’t warrant triple the wait time. Especially with both vendors knowing that my chair was sitting at an angle, falling apart bit by bit, and the van I had was not set up for me to easily bring my son with me. I can’t imagine that they would look forward to spending fifteen hours a day in a chair that leans heavily to the right. The story only got worse when I went to pick up my new $72,000 truck, but anyone wanting to hear that sordid tale can drop me a line as it’s too lengthy for this post.
Mind you, these extended waits can often end with providers saying, “Sorry, but your insurance doesn’t cover that.” It’s often just a couple of weeks in that case, but still, who wants to wait that long when they really, I mean really, need something? I would like to get into the absurdity of things that insurance will or will not cover and the utter ridiculousness social security plays in it, but again, that’s a nugget for a future post since it’s way too big to cover here.
So, what’s causing this problem? The excuse I get time and time again is that delays in service repairs and equipment purchases are mainly a problem of insurance. And I quote “I’m really sorry, but we have to wait for prior authorization.” But that doesn’t explain the same slow response to initial phone calls, no matter insurance coverage. Maybe it’s a case of too little competition in my small state? Or the possibility of not enough staff to cover those needing service? Whatever the cause it needs addressing.
In many instances I’m sure the prior authorization excuse is the truth, however, I have workers compensation insurance. Shouldn’t that make a difference? You know that old saying “If you’re going to get hurt, make sure it’s at work.” Well, I did, and it was, so I should get pretty much whatever I need right? Expedient repairs in the least? Overnight shipping? But no, that’s not the case. In most situations, I get the same weeks worth of wait that my wheelchair using friends, covered by Medicare do. Only once have I received the luxury of overnight shipping, and I paid for it my damn self. That, in and of it self, is craziness. How is it that I can order some “doodad” on Amazon.com using my Prime Membership and, including processing time, still get said “doodad” in a week…from Japan, but I can’t get wheelchair parts for weeks to a month? Don’t insurance companies know that broken equipment can lead to injury? Injury costs money. In the case of my friend Ashley who has a broken seat cushion, that could mean a pressure sore. One that could end in surgery if it failed to heal properly. Is that really cost effective? I can’t imagine insurance companies would knowingly be that inefficient with money (wink wink).
It may be a case that Vermont, as a small state, has few competing providers leading to a lack of competition. However, I’ve experienced the same lack of service right outside of Boston.
The point here isn’t to complain but to point out that this is not the way a service industry dedicated to helping those with disabilities maintain their independence should treat their customers. When I asked my friend Morgan if she thought her medical supply company was there to serve her needs, here’s what she said,”No I don’t really feel like they are there to serve me. It’s doesn’t seem like it’s a high priority for them to fix wheelchairs even though it’s crucial for us to live day to day.”
So who’s to blame for these crazy wait times and crappy treatment, and what do we do about it? I think it’s a combination of problems, and a lot of it has to do with culture. When a disabled person in America has an issue completing a task we say that there is a problem with the person. In other countries they consider it a problem with equipment. It’s a difference in culture. Any disability goes against our country’s need for perfection and gross materialism. I feel like even the famous people with disabilities are viewed as inspirational, yet less, by many. This fact bleeds into the insurance industry (I’m not woman enough to delve into the American insurance mess today). The American people have been at the mercy of insurance companies for longer that I can remember so we’re use to their organizational culture being centered around making shareholders profits, not being of service.
My theory is that these medical supply companies and adaptive vehicle companies work so closely with insurance companies that they have adopted the insurance company business culture (shareholder profits taking presidents over customers), knowingly or not. The higher ups probably don’t project it on purpose (in some cases), but it oozes down the chain while employees get bogged down with the insurance company red tape. Couple that bad culture with bad management practices ie: under payed, over worked, under valued individuals who don’t carry a strong company mission in their hearts and you get— the crappiest service ever—suffered by those who need the best. It’s bad business…period.
So what do we do? Call these companies out, just like I am right now. Their treatment of the disabled and elderly is deplorable. If they want to fix the problem then here are some of my solutions: If you want to provide great service and a stellar company culture, than hire disabled employees or employees with some kind of emotional stake in the job such as a disabled family member. Then make the company employee owned. Build a strong mission statement that permeates your company culture and for the love of Christopher Reeves, please get a service secretary that returns calls, guarantee free, fast shipping and make your client a priority despite insurance coverage!