Connect
← Return to Portal messages and phone calls
Discussion
Portal messages and phone calls
Aging Well | Last Active: Aug 26 7:32pm | Replies (8)Comment receiving replies
@hollyteclaw Here's the dreaded answer - "It depends"
At my primary (large) clinical practice, by policy all portal messages are replied to in 5 days or less, depending on urgency. Several of my docs there have asked that I communicate by phone, through their staff, for quicker results, because the portal is so overloaded.
At my secondary clinic (a physician-owned multi-specialty practice) - Rheumatology, Ortho, PT & OT - each practitioner has their own protocol, and they communicate it on your first visit. My cardiologist (another practice) wants all communication via phone call to his nurse because she knows so much that she can answer nearly anything.
All very confusing! What I have done is to add a note in my "Contacts" of the preferred communication method for each doc, and the names of their key staff members.
Did you try asking your doctor what the mode they prefer?
Replies to "@hollyteclaw Here's the dreaded answer - "It depends" At my primary (large) clinical practice, by policy..."
Connect
@sueinmn Yes, they each have a preferred method of contact. And Staff decide what they get and when they get it. I can understand that doctors are people and like people have their preferred way of communicating.
However, there is another aspect. When a question is complex, it is better to think first, compose it and then send the message. Voice messages often get written down incorrectly. That gets into the system and can get repeated throughout the electronic system. I have had this issue. A couple of years ago I had to go to the ER to be tested. The ER person asked me if I had COPD and I said no. But she did not believe me because it was in the system from a mistake made years before. Then I had to go to the trouble of submitting the paperwork to correct it after I found the source. Technology allows us to track a lot of information, but it requires organizing the information and that is a specialized skill set