Something went wrong - a technology rant

[athena53]

Part two: Why does my family doc now have a med student who asks 10-15 minutes of questions that have perfectly good answers in the "system" for which she has no card access. I watched her fill a page in a steno notebook from top to bottom, and then waited for the doc, only to have her ask many of the same questions.

My guess is that you're helping to train the next generation of doctors in learning how to take medical histories. You should send them a bill. ;-)

 

[joeea]

I am convinced that those paper surveys are to make the wait time seem shorter. The doctor has all they need on their systems.

They are mostly used to see if anything has changed since the last time the systems were last updated.

 

[Midpack]

My healthcare provider is very automated.

I can log in to a portal site and see all my medications and medication history, the results of all tests, the schedule of all appointments, etc. I can even send a message to my physician and get a response later without having to call the office, leave a message and hope I'm around to hear the callback. I can easily look up simple explanations of any conditions, symptoms, and medications. I can check on billing, learn all the details for costs, find out what insurances has paid so far, etc, etc.

I like this system a lot it's very well done. No complaints from my end.

I have access to all my medical results and can check appts online too. But they still make me fill out several pages on nonsense every time I visit, and they’re still never on time with appts. There are decent IT people in the background, but the office people are clearly stuck in the distant past, still happily pushing paper and other old school practices.

 

[athena53]

There are decent IT people in the background, but the office people are clearly stuck in the distant past, still happily pushing paper and other old school practices.

I agree. Two out of the last 3 years I've shown up at the Lab (no appointment required) for a fasting blood test only to find that they had no record of my doctor calling in the orders, so I had to wait till her office opened. I WAS able to drink black coffee and fortunately there was a supply available, but not fun.

Year 1 I was totally unaware this might happen. Year 2 a hard copy of the orders showed up in my snail mail without my requesting it. Presented it at the Lab, no problem.

This year I called 2 weeks ahead and ASKED if she'd sent orders to the lab. Yes, she had and they'd send me a copy. I called a couple more times, waited a few more days, then finally went to the Lab two days after donating platelets because if I'd waited any longer I wasn't sure if she'd have the results in time for my visit. Lab couldn't find the orders. Had to wait again. They were in my mail box when I got home- dated the day her office said they were called in, not mailed till 3 business days after my last call to them. So, apparently they were in the system but the lab couldn't find them and her staff dragged their feet in getting them in the mail. Oh, yeah- my platelet levels were low.

I really like my doctor but next time I'm starting 3 weeks before the appointment time on requesting the bloodwork and will not go to the Lab without a hard copy of the orders.

 

[GrayHare]

Oh, the "Patient Portal", if only it was so simple.

Every Dr I've been to in the last few years has their own version of a patient portal, each with it's own logon and password.

Yup, the portals are supplied free to the doctors. The portal then sells patient info in order to make money. Not HIPAA compliant you say? You're probably right.

 

[joeea]

Yup, the portals are supplied free to the doctors. The portal then sells patient info in order to make money.

Apparently, the portal my doctors use and the ones you are talking about are not at all the same thing.

The privacy policy on the portal I use specifically prohibits what you mention. It might make sense for everyone to check their privacy policy and make an informed decision.

 

[GrayHare]

Apparently, the portal my doctors use and the ones you are talking about are not at all the same thing.

The privacy policy on the portal I use specifically prohibits what you mention. It might make sense for everyone to check their privacy policy and make an informed decision.

Do you know how much your doctor pays for the portal? If zero or a low amount, you know that portal is making money some other way...

 

[Walt34]

Here's a new one:

While I don't watch TV anymore DW does, and it's through Comcast (yeah, I know, but she likes it). The service has been acting up, one channel intermittently changes to a foreign language, one is mute, and one only changes to a foreign language at certain times. I look at the bill, and there is no phone number to call, they want me to email them. (I'm going to try calling anyway, they don't need my email and I don't want their spam). I got to wondering - if one's email service is through Comcast (ours isn't) and their internet service goes down how is that customer supposed to contact them? Telepathy? Write a letter?

 

[joeea]

Do you know how much your doctor pays for the portal? If zero or a low amount, you know that portal is making money some other way...

Again, you seem to be talking about a different kind of portal.

The portal I use is run by the healthcare organization within which the doctors are employed and within which the hospitals and offices in the group exist.

This isn't a marketing website. Or a "free doctor referrals" site. Or a "best doctors in your town" site. It's not a "craigslist for doctors" site.

 

[joeea]

I look at the bill, and there is no phone number to call

Every Comcast bill I have ever received has a phone number on it. Perhaps that's different in your locale, although that would be a surprise.

I got to wondering - if one's email service is through Comcast (ours isn't) and their internet service goes down how is that customer supposed to contact them?

I would call them. I have no doubt that any call to Comcast could be transferred to customer service. I am also able to get to Comcast's website through my cell phone, although clearly not everyone owns a smart phone with internet access.

Seriously, I think you might want to re-examine your bill to find a number that almost certainly is there. In the unlikely case that your bill truly lacks a customer service number, you might be well served by looking at their website now, before you lose internet access. I start here: https://www.xfinity.com/support/. Once you find the appropriate number, write it down somewhere so it will be available when you need it.

And of course you likely have a local Comcast office that you can visit to learn why your channel's language keeps changing if you can't learn why via their website or via a phone call.

And to save you a few minutes, here's the Customer Service number that comes up when I search for "comcast customer service" using Google: 1 (800) 934-6489. You could write this down and save it for future use.

 

[GrayHare]

Again, you seem to be talking about a different kind of portal.

The portal I use is run by the healthcare organization within which the doctors are employed and within which the hospitals and offices in the group exist.

This isn't a marketing website. Or a "free doctor referrals" site. Or a "best doctors in your town" site. It's not a "craigslist for doctors" site.

The only thing that sounds different about the portals we're talking about is the size of the medical group. It might be that the portal of a large medical group is more responsible, tough to be sure.

 

[joeea]

The only thing that sounds different about the portals we're talking about is the size of the medical group. It might be that the portal of a large medical group is more responsible, tough to be sure.

If you care, read the Privacy Policy. Unless it says that they won't sell your information, you should assume that they will.

 

[MRG]

Here's a new one:

While I don't watch TV anymore DW does, and it's through Comcast (yeah, I know, but she likes it). The service has been acting up, one channel intermittently changes to a foreign language, one is mute, and one only changes to a foreign language at certain times. I look at the bill, and there is no phone number to call, they want me to email them. (I'm going to try calling anyway, they don't need my email and I don't want their spam). I got to wondering - if one's email service is through Comcast (ours isn't) and their internet service goes down how is that customer supposed to contact them? Telepathy? Write a letter?

They have phones. I don't use them but I know they have phones.

There's a whole bunch of posts on Reddit(R/Comcast) about their phones and their customer care.

There's a lot more about their business practices.

 

[athena53]

I got to wondering - if one's email service is through Comcast (ours isn't) and their internet service goes down how is that customer supposed to contact them? Telepathy? Write a letter?

When our land line phone service, which was part of our Time Warner cable package, went out, DH used my cell phone (Verizon provider) to call TWC. When he said that our TWC phone service wasn't working, the "service" person asked if he was calling from the phone that wasn't working.

 

[Meadbh]

My guess is that you're helping to train the next generation of doctors in learning how to take medical histories. You should send them a bill. ;-)

That’s probably true. But don’t send them a bill. I’ve been there, done that. Practice makes perfect, and medical students tend to be thorough. While I was a student and intern, I picked up several clues to obscure but important and treatable problems that had been missed by my superiors. What’s more, these students are paying a ton of money for the privilege of learning from you.

 

[Walt34]

Every Comcast bill I have ever received has a phone number on it. Perhaps that's different in your locale, although that would be a surprise.

That was true here until a couple of months ago. Apparently they're rolling out a new, lower, standard of service.

I would call them. I have no doubt that any call to Comcast could be transferred to customer service.

That's what I did, using the same number you gave, from an old bill. But the number is not on the last four month's bills. No one answered at the number. Oh, and I was mistaken about the email - they want you to contact them via their web site.

If it wasn't for DW, who watches a lot of TV, I'd have canceled Comcast long ago. It is apparently a company populated entirely by idiots, morons, fools and imbeciles. I am sure they're in business solely because in so many places there is no competition.

 

[MRG]

That’s probably true. But don’t send them a bill. I’ve been there, done that. Practice makes perfect, and medical students tend to be thorough. While I was a student and intern, I picked up several clues to obscure but important and treatable problems that had been missed by my superiors. What’s more, these students are paying a ton of money for the privilege of learning from you.

I've always enjoyed having a student present. They tend to hang on the patients ' every word, unlike some more experienced doctors.

I remember being young, in my non-medical career, the lessons learned were very powerful in my later days.

 

[ejman]

My healthcare provider is very automated.

I can log in to a portal site and see all my medications and medication history, the results of all tests, the schedule of all appointments, etc. I can even send a message to my physician and get a response later without having to call the office, leave a message and hope I'm around to hear the callback. I can easily look up simple explanations of any conditions, symptoms, and medications. I can check on billing, learn all the details for costs, find out what insurances has paid so far, etc, etc.

I like this system a lot it's very well done. No complaints from my end.

Same here. The system my doctor uses is called FollowMyHealth and it seems to work quite well. Test results, scheduled appointments, notifications, charts, doctor notes etc- they all seem to be updated promptly and accurately - so far. Maybe I've been exceptionally lucky and I hope am not jinxing things