By Jay Juffre

Two things baby boomers love to talk about – their grandchildren and doctor visits.  I call my dad every night and he is no exception.  Recently we spent about a week discussing how he was going to be able to get a needed CAT scan in New England before he made the annual trip down to Florida.  He lives in Maine; his doctors are all in Boston.  After not being able to get anything scheduled in Beantown, I passively suggested, getting it done in Maine vs. two hours away …. He was able to schedule a scan 20 minutes from his house the day before he was due to fly out and wow was he impressed.  The daily call starts.  “How was your day, dad?”  “It was great!”  “Great?!?”  “You are not going to believe it?  I walk into the hospital, and I tell them I need to go to imaging.  And guess what?  Rather than point, she stands up and walks me down the hall to imaging.  After that someone walked me to where I needed to go next.  And then when I was done with that, someone walked me back to the lobby.  I couldn’t believe it!  That place is great!!”  He said they have a bunch of locations, but they are not affiliated with any big hospital chain.  And there you have it.  In this world of consolidation, I guarantee my dad will repeat that story to every one of his friends every time they mention needing some kind of medical test or procedure.  My dad was used to going to a big health system where people point or make patients follow signs to figure out which way to go.  Whether you are large or small, look for ways to stand out.  People like my dad are sure to tell others.

Jay Juffre is Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, ImageFIRST. For more information on ImageFIRST, call 1-800-932-7472 or visit www.imagefirst.com.