Do You Use A Healthcare Patient Portal?

[GailL1]

  Patient portals are healthcare-related online applications that allow patients to interact and communicate with their healthcare providers, such as physicians and hospitals.

• Your whole health history is there - from you filling out a questionnaire on your family to other things like conditions and surgeries one has had in the past, pregnancies if a female, anything else   
• ALL the results of any test like CT Scans, MRI, lab work.
• Your medication list is there.  Name, dose, frequency
• any allergies
• vaccination and immunization record
• results of last preventive test of whatever kind
• your docs and specialist are there
• you can make and cancel appointment 
• you can view your claims and their status
• have your insurance plans listed in priority
• you can get a price quote on some procedure

AND much more

This is what Medicare has paid money to health providers to establish - the Electronic Health Records (EHR)  It is all secure and under several layers of sign in authentication.

Other country healthcare systems use these much more than we do at the present time. 

 I use one - and I like it - the only thing I don’t like is everybody seems to want their own instead of participating in just one system, there are multiple ones that the patient has to link together or transfer the info. 

Do you use  a patient portal?

[coolslick]

I use one for different facilities where I have tests and all of my Dr.s who are all in different groups, so I use more than one...I find it so much easier than calling and love that I get my test results almost immediately..

[DirkB349973]

Mine is called "MyChart" by Epic. It does most of the things @GailL1  mentioned as well as reminders for appointments, vaccinations and tests. It also facilitates communications with my doctor. I left a note for her the other day about a medical issue I was having and her staff called the next business day to set up an appointment. It's pretty remarkable.

[coolslick]

One of mine is also My Chart..

[SpringIsHereSoHappy]

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[GailL1]

They would all have the complete access - take what they need and leave the rest or even add to the rest.

If one is seeing a specialist of any kind, this doc may want your labs that have already been completed by your PCP.  Or if you are going to your PCP for say, dizziness - he may refer you to an Otolaryngologist for middle ear or sinus evaluation, or an Audiologist, or a Neurologist for any brain/nerve evaluation - each will probably want to see certain test and add a few others - to get he complete picture.  So there would be CT Scans. MRI’s of the Head and Neck, MRA of head and Neck, EEG or  VNG test or one of the many nystagmus test.

They could each see the test results if it is already done - and not order another one. (saves medical bucks). Or they could order another test on its on merit or as supplemental to another to investigate more.

I like you have multiple patient portals but only one main one - so I do transfer info to the main one - because those that are independent of inclusion have restrictions on what medical providers have access.  My main portal is though a hospital chain and thus all docs with access to that hospital have access to it and the patient knows this by seeing them as registered on their site.  I even have PT and what treatments and other recommendations - treatment notes - on my site.  

I do try to see medical providers that are affiliated with the hospital chain that my portal is set up with - then I transport the others - like Opthalmologist - and Dermatologist. 

BTW, I don’t just have the outcome or results on certain test - I actually have the test just in case another doc wants to review it on their own.  

[SpringIsHereSoHappy]

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[GailL1]

There are multiple hospital chains where I am located - some are closer than others.  But test providers located outside one’s geographical area have access to posting test results for their clients because they subscribe as providers to many of the portals - hospitals and doctors - if they don’t then your doc, who orders the test, who is a registered participant in this specific portal uploads it when they get it.  Or the client can do it.

It is the client that owns the test so you have access in getting a hard copy of anything that is done from the provider that does the test and reads it - like an MRI.  These aren’t so much interpretations as experts writing down what they see - just like now.

Just like now - your doctor recommends that you get a specific test done at a certain location - that location has access to your portal to not only remind you of your appointment or schedule one, they also tell you when the results are in - the test results are not only given to the doc that order it, the test and the results are also on your portal - then you can take those to any doc you want to see.

It is the clients specific portal for as long as they need it or want it - if you move or change docs, you just establish one that the new doc uses and then any files can be transferred either by the other portal network or by the client.

It is no different than any other digital thing that is made just for you - like a bank account - you use it for as long as you want it and then if you need to, you close the bank account and terminate the agreement you had with the bank - close out your username and passwords and your records are gone from that institution and you open them somewhere else.

Patient portals are a great way to have all your medical records in just one place.  No more duplication of test or procedures, no more wondering when such and such was done.  In an emergency situation it is a great thing - especially for those of us who are getting older.