Much of President Obama's focus these past several months has been on healthcare reform and the idea that we can cut wasted spending with greater efficiencies to healthcare. One of the ways to improve efficiencies, he proposed, is through improved processing and the use of technology.

As I was sitting in my doctor's examination room last week, it struck me as he took notes on his wireless laptop, that aside from my doctor not conducting house calls, little difference exists between what his workflow is and what independent agents do. There's not a lot of difference between a doctor compiling patient information and how you gather information on personal property or business "aches and pains." While the doctor is concerned with a patient's personal health, you're concerned with a client's financial health.

This particular doctor is one of several that I see on an annual basis, and he is the only one who is even remotely as well equipped as the average insurance agent. Not only does he use wireless laptops throughout his practice, but he also checks medications with my insurance company while in the examining room to see if a generic is preferred before issuing me the prescription. He then automatically sends the slip to the printer so an assistant is handing me the prescription by the time I leave.