@lioness @parus @gingerw

At Kaiser and some other places now you must call and request the results of your tests. I think insurance, for-profit healthcare, and limited number of doctors have caused the problem. To be profitable (or in some instances to break even) doctors are required to see a certain number of patients each day. This means they can only spend minimal time with patients who aren't acute. If they fall below their required number they often must take a cut in pay, or they may lose their jobs.

Computers have actually helped the doctors and nurses, and ultimately patients. Previously doctors would see their patients and at the end of each day they dictated their findings to tape to be transcribed the following day by staff and assigned the ICD number that corresponded to the patient's medical problem. The staff often needed to review the doctors handwritten notes to confirm their transcription. Have you tried to read doctor handwriting? It's terrible! Also, doctors often didn't like to to dictate their findings after a long day at work (12+ hours), so they let the patient files build up for a few weeks before trying to do them in a marathon session. This resulted in errors and difficulty for the patient who was awaiting their insurance reimbursement. With the computers doctors spend much less time transcribing information and are assured that the information entered is correct as they have you in the room when they are recording it. Things are more accurate and mistakes are hopefully fewer in number.

All change is difficult to adjust to, but in the long run computer use will improve the care given. I can't say the same about having to change doctors so often! I feel for you Parus. I hope Medicare for All (universal, single payer) will solve some of these problems for all of us. It will at the least, not be profit-oriented! It seems that "the Golden Calf" worship has led us to the state we're in these days. I hope my explanation has been helpful. This is from my 8 years working in healthcare/hospitals/clinics at an administrative level and seeing the challenges and changes that doctors and nurses are dealing with. The vast majority of healthcare professionals are truly interested in helping their patients improve. Only a few are truly bad at their jobs.

I am grateful for my 8 years of experience in Healthcare as it has given me compassion and empathy for those who work tirelessly to help those of us who need their expertise.