Asking the right question

Some of my regular readers might know or remember that I have MS. I manage it quite effectively with the help of a medication called Kesimpta, which I order every month via a specialty pharmacy. It’s the same routine. Five days prior to my injection date insurance grants approval for me to order it via an online portal, and it arrives right on time. The whole system works. Until it doesn’t.

Earlier this week I attempted to login to the portal online to find I no longer had access. It was late in the evening, so I decided to wait until the next morning to call, or maybe an overnight site refresh would do the trick. When the portal still didn’t work in the morning I called the support line, assuming (silly me) it was a small, quick error and fix.

Two hours later, after cycling through four representatives I was frustrated. During that time I’d been told my insurance was no longer active (not accurate), my identity must have been stolen (it hadn’t). my pre-authorization from insurance must no longer be valid (it still is for another six months), and that I needed to totally delete my account and simply start from scratch (that didn’t seem like the best idea). Eventually I either got disconnected by accident, or a frustrated representative hung up on me. I choose to believe it was the former.

Since the clock was now ticking for me to order and receive my medication, I knew this situation needed to be resolved. So, I breathed deeply and called the help line again. The representative who answered listened patiently while I explained the series of events, and she acknowledged and validated (important!) my frustration and sense of urgency.

Then she asked the right question.

What is the URL or the portal you’re using to login? After I gave her that information, she quickly deduced that was the heart of the issue. Apparently, the pharmacy upgraded and changed its system, including login protocols. I now needed to access my portal via another “parent” site. Unfortunately, there was no redirect for the poor saps like me who either missed the notification or are simply creatures of habit. Following her instructions, I immediately accessed my portal, medication was ordered, and I gleefully, gratefully asked, “Where were you two hours ago?!?”

What’s the lesson here?

She asked the right question and solved the problem in less than five minutes. How? She looked for the root cause. It was the simplest answer – of course it was. But in our frenetic world we spend so much time in reactionary thinking, we forget to slow down, take a breath, and ask the right questions.

The next time you find yourself caught up in the fire drill du jour, remember to pause. Breathe. And ask the right questions.