If you are a reader of my blog, you know I have health issues and have been treated effectively within the Penn Health System. I just tried, without any kind of fruition, to get my referrals for specialists released from the order state into "the system." My doctor's appointment with my general physician (GP), who by the way is outstanding, was after normal business hours a couple of nights ago. She gave me two orders for referrals to see two doctors within the Penn Health System. One of the doctors I have been seeing for a couple of years (and he rocks!). The other doctor is new to me and this will be my first appointment.

My GP told me at the end of the visit to call back and have the referrals "released" into "the system." I was thinking this would not be a tough one, sounds easy. Win for me. :-) I just got off of the phone with my GP's administrative folks and I need to get both specialists provider numbers, schedule appointments, and call another number to get the referrals in order. While this is fine and will happen exactly as they directed. I must conform to their system in order to get proper service. I was thinking about how this would work for a customer of Amazon.com...

Let's say that I was buying a new watch through Amazon from a company called Watchzone. The way it works now...

• I found a watch I like on the Amazon site, that happens to be sold by a third party (Watchzone).
• I add the watch to a virtual cart and pay for it using my American Express card.
• The item shows up at my door, delivered by whatever shipment options I chose during checkout.

Let's now apply the business/service model of the Penn Health System to my Amazon purchase...

• I found a watch I like on the Amazon site, that happens to be sold by a third party (Watchzone).
• I add the watch to a virtual cart and try to pay for the watch with my American Express card (without success).
• I call Watchzone and let them know I want the watch.
• I then have to call American Express and tell them to release funds (referral) to Watchzone.
• Amazon and Watchzone communicate somehow and funds (referral) are transferred.
• I get my watch via mail.

The kicker of this whole thing is that in my example of the Penn Health model being applied to Amazon.com... Amazon, Watchzone, and American Express are owned by the same company! Grrr. How should it work? Here is my ideal model...

• I go to my GP and she issues sets of referrals for two specialists.
• I call each specialist within the Penn Health System for appointments and give them the order numbers for the referrals.
• I go to the appointments without hassle.

This ideal model should only function this smoothly *if* all doctors are within the same system. The problem with the Penn Health Systems' business/service model is that there is a separation of systems that cause a series of faults or divisions that disrupts customer services. Their business model and separation of systems create hurdles that the customer has to navigate. Looking at my artificial Amazon/Penn Health mash-up, it illustrates the absurdity of the process and how it would never be accepted in any kind of online business transaction. So why is it standard practice concerning people's lives and welfare?! (Yes, that's a rhetorical question.)

I am participating in the Philly Live Strong 100-mile bike ride to help cure cancer on August 22. Please help me to raise money for the event.

As part of Team LIVESTRONG, I’m making a difference in the fight against cancer. I’ve joined with other people around the globe and across different events to raise money for LIVESTRONG. We may not all live in the same city or participate in the same sport but we’re united by hope, courage and determination.

The money I raise will go to support LIVESTRONG’s programs and services, which inspire and empower people affected by cancer. If you or someone you know is diagnosed, these resources will help face the challenges of cancer, head on, and live life on your own terms.

Please support me as I make a difference in the cancer fight through my participation in Team LIVESTRONG. Thank you!

Donate here.

Launched a completed project at work, Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs site. This site redesign went relatively smoothly. Besides the social networking integration, there were a number of changes under-the-hood... mostly centered around the navigation. In all, a very nice development cycle.

The family attended the Wharton UI Conference this year--Amy as an attendee, Cole and I worked it. Here are three pics taken by Scott Spitzer. Cole has had some interest in HTML5, so he wound up sitting in on that session. Overall, the conference was wonderful. I learned a lot and especially enjoyed the keynotes by Cory Ondrejka and Don Norman.

Outstanding and entertaining. I have admired Kevin Spacey's work for years and it is delightful to find he has a great sense of humor.

This is funny and awesome. :-)

Amy and I finally had enough with the paltry number of bars indicating our signal strength with AT&T; so we bought an AT&T Microcell last night. I had been waiting for its availability in our area since reading about it a long while back. Gizmodo has a decent review of it here. It was kinda weird when we bought it because we were both slightly incensed at having to pay $158 in order to use a service where we are already paying $180 dollars per month. We could have bought the Microcell for a lower price (after a crappy AT&T "rebate," which is actually some kind of rebate card), but would have had to pay an additional $20 a month for unlimited voice. The problem with the whole thing is that the Microcell is also using our home internet connection for some kind of VOIP/cell reception conversion. Grrr.

When waiting to speak to a customer representative, we had to wait in line for 30 minutes before someone would see us. After we told the salesman what we wanted, we attempted to register/activate the product there. There was some kind of computer network SNAFU; so we wound up wasting another 40 minutes trying to get out the door. They eventually sent us on our way and told us to activate it from home. When we got home, we tried to activate it and had the same problems; the web application told us to call an 800 number to activate it over the phone. I called the 800 number on my phone (with the paltry number of signal bars) and finally got through to someone after 35 minutes on hold. They tried to activate the Microcell and failed, telling us to try the web registration/activation again later in the evening or tomorrow. Grrr again.

Last night at around 12:30 AM, I was finally able to seemingly activate the Microcell. I set everything up, hardware-wise, but it wasn't working. The manual read that it might take up to an hour to complete some kind of network set-up. Fine, I went to bed and thought I would have five bars in the morning. :-) Wishful thinking... I woke up this morning and the Microcell was just blinking when it should have had solid indicator lights. The Microcell uses some kind of GPS signal/location lock for 911 purposes. I also suspect that the GPS lock also ensures it is being used at the address you have indicated in the registration process. Anyway, there was no GPS signal. I had to set-up the Microcell in an area close to an open window with a clear line of sight to the sky. Luckily, I have been using an Airport Express to extend the range of our Time Capsule and I was able to move the Express to a decent spot for the Microcell. After everything was set-up and I finally got a GPS lock, it wouldn't start displaying a solid light indicating it was broadcasting a cell signal. I checked the status of the Microcell on the AT&T site and realized that my registration from last night didn't take. I re-registered/activated the Microcell, power-cycled it, opened a window so it could get a GPS lock, and crossed my fingers. Grrr a third time.

After all of that mess, it finally started working after another 30 minutes. Good signal strength and I still have a little sanity left. $158 dollars + one wasted evening + another 2.5 hours in the early morning - sanity = success. I love my iPhone, but all of this because AT&T sucks? Yay. :-(