I was watching something on the Smithsonian channel and caught a clip of an interview by Gary Powers, Jr. He was discussing his father, and the interviewer asked him about his dad’s ill-fated U2 flight—Gary Powers’ spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960 by a surface-to-air missile.

“I asked him how high he was flying when the missile hit his plane,” the son replied. “His answer was, ‘obviously not high enough’.”

Not high enough. A bit of an understatement. When you’re piloting the spy plane and you can see the SAM’s contrail you’re about to have a bad day. By the time you see the smoke streaking towards you it’s already too late. Would’a, should’a could’a don’t matter. At this point all you can do is make the best of a bad situation. The time to prevent the problem has passed; the only option left is to minimize the consequences.

I look at Patient Relationship Management (PRM) pretty much the same way. For the most part, by the time the phone rings, it’s already too late to have done what was required to have prevented the need for the call.  Would’a, should’a could’a don’t matter. At this point all your organization can do is make the best of the situation. The time to prevent the call has passed; the only option left is to respond to the caller’s request.

If your hospital or office is like most others, almost all of the attention and technology are focused at responding to the caller once the call’s been received, kind of like trying to put the toothpaste back into the tube.  There are very cost-effective ways to evaluate providing excellent PRM prior to having to do it via a call center.  Social media can play an important role.