Poppin In

I want to write a quick follow-up to my Pharmaphenalia post. For those who missed it, I selflessly sacrificed my tried and true Zyprexa clipboard, in the name of not running ads for Eli Lilly. And I purchased a clipboard from Poppin, to replace it.

I also bought a few other things for my office, including these cool pens:

They write decently, although they were a little scratchy to begin with, but that seems to have smoothed out. The thing is, I write a lot of process notes, so I started going through them pretty quickly. I tried to find refills for them, but I couldn't, so I emailed Poppin about it. They didn't get back to me, so I kind of forgot about it (they are, after all, just pens, and cheap, at that).

Then, on Friday, I got this email:

First of all, I want to say how sorry I am that this email is so incredibly delayed. I got your original email, wrote you what I consider to be an awesome response, hit send but just found out it never went through! I am so sorry we left you hanging! Here is what I originally had to say about our Gel Luxe Pens. 

Those pens are actually intended to be single use. But, I did do some digging and searching with our product team to hunt down replacement cartridges and unfortunately came up short. They don't quite fit standard refills and I even took one of our Luxe pens to the art and stationary store next to our office hoping they might have a suggestion but no such luck.

Your best bet is to get some brand new ones from us! Since my email never got out to you and I know exactly how great those pens are, I am going to make sure that is exactly what happens. I am sending you two boxes of our White Gel Luxe Pens plus a Pen Cup so you have somewhere to put them...on us! I want you writing happy and I would hate for you to think that your email was ignored.

This is my definition of exceptional customer service. And I've since received another email letting me know that the package has been shipped.

The expression, "The customer is always right," was coined by Sears President, Julius Rosenwald. It seems like the kind of idea that shouldn't need to be coined as an expression, it should just be intuitive. But then, as now, it was necessary. 

And Poppin seems to get it. Insurance companies could take a lesson from them.

Pharmaphenalia

I've posted a fair amount about Big Pharma, and how they market drugs they know to be ineffective, or even unsafe, how they buy off doctors to be Key Opinion Leaders, or just active prescribers of their drugs.
And I've been smugly patting myself on the back for not using drug pens or post-its, etc. But not quite. When I meet with a new patient, I tend to take notes. And since I don't have a chart yet for that patient, I use a clipboard with plain, looseleaf paper. I don't pay much attention to the clipboard, because I've been using it so long I don't even notice it. How long? Since residency. I know this because it's a Zyprexa clipboard, and I haven't gotten stuff from drug reps since I was a resident.

Sorry for the crappy photo, but it's some pretty glaring advertising, no? I don't understand what the little dude at the bottom is supposed to symbolize.

Is it a big deal that I use a zyprexa clipboard? I don't know. I feel like I should be more cognizant of what it might mean to patients. Does it make them think I'm going to throw an antipsychotic at them? That I get lots of stuff from drug reps?

Regardless of what it means to my patients, I think there's something to the fact that it's insinuated itself so thoroughly into my work life that I don't notice it anymore. It seems broadly emblematic of the situation with drug companies. They're part of our thinking. They're just there, no questioning required. Of course I use a Zyprexa clipboard, who doesn't use all that cool, free stuff the drug reps give away?

I decided to make my own symbolic gesture, and get rid of it. But I do need a clipboard. I can probably dig up some old thing at home, but I thought I'd get a really fun clipboard, to make up for my loss.

And this is it:

the hold-tight

Lime Green Clipboard

From Poppin. Set me back all of $5, a small price to pay for ejecting Big Pharma from my office.

While I was at it, I decided to get some fun office stuff:

the cut-above

White Scissors

This pair will beat rock and paper every time.

the most-writeous

White Letter Size Writing Pads

the write-away

Bikini Medium Spiral Notebook

the always-on-point

White Retractable Gel Luxe Pen

The clipboard is simple and perfectly functional. The scissors work well and have white blades. The paper is dense and has a nice hand. The notebook is cheerful. And the pens are cool-looking but write scratchily.

And not only is Poppin not paying me to write this, but they don't even know I exist. Which is good, because that way they can't target their marketing at me, like the Lilly rep who gave me the Zyprexa clipboard.