The Patient Portal—Help or Hindrance?

Before you write off your doctor of 25 yrs. make sure that he got the messages you sent him. I say this because I was getting annoyed with a friend who hadn't answered my 2 emails asking if she wanted to see a show. When I finally ran into her I found out that she never saw the emails. She is more into texting and very rarely even looks at her emails.
However, a two week wait for blood work is unacceptable. Perhaps calling the office, everyday if need be, to ask for the results. Here again could be an honest mistake...good luck !

IN 1985 I was treated in Toronot for cancer of cervix stage 2. I have NOTHING from my file/s from the doctors I saw prior to treatment - one saying it was a hygiene problem; another upon intimate exam 'I can't see anything' although I knew something was drastically wrong. I also have not one piece of paper from my file from the hospital... in those days we didn't ask for or get copies of reports etc. It was not until my return to the hospital for checkup that I even asked what size the tumour had been! To this day I have no idea what the treatment was etc etc etc.. this is wrong. The family doctors and specialist I saw have either moved away or retired... and by the time I was aware I could obtain copies of my file/s it was too late - except for my word I have nothing to prove I even had cancer! Now in the Province of Canada in which I live I can request copies of info from my family dr/nurse file; can request from local hospital copies of reports etc., and from another hospital in Toronto can get copies of reports from my file from my home without requesting it. Both local labs, one charges $10 a year and one is free, I can get copies on Intrnet of results of blood and urines tests but they have to be sent (not necessarily seen by) the ordering dr. Yes I have also found many errors regarding what I said or such and I have a copy of emerge report saying I did not have a small stroke when in fact six months later I discovered via another Dr. that I had, but took no action. My spouse is not at all interested in seeing any of his file/s, he does not read the accompanying information sheets from his 10 or so meds; that's his choice, but now after not seeing my files for dozens of years, I want to see EVERYTHING. Also very handy when I print out a report say from a private lab... the hospital has no access to this information! So if recent can show the dr at emerge or such the results, and vice versa.... it is so helpful and saves me having the same tests twice. Yes can be upsetting to read about things discovered in reports, but we will be advised about it ultimately.... one downfall is I now have a lot of paperwork and files and having many illnesses am finding myself a bit swamped with paperwork, but its worth it, to me. Years ago after xrays of kidney dr told me all ok; i found out year later had cyst; ok, not a huge deal, but why didn't he tell me; also had uterus punctured during d&c and surgeon said there were problems, hadn't I had symptoms, and he also took appendix out while fixing - again, didnt find out until a year later.... from another doctor; to me that was wrong and now that type of thing wont happen again! I would imagine some drs. are concerned about being sued, and I have had just cause to in the past, but I didn't and wouldn't - but please just tell me the truth..... sorry so long .. but also one of our office buildings had a fire and drs. patient files were lost... so if we had our own copies would have saved a lot of records that went up in smoke!

Yes! I find the response is quicker when I use the portal rather than the phone.

@karen1945 I also like the patient portal to send messages because then what I want to say to the doctor gets to the doctor in my words, not interpreted by a nurse who answered the phone. Also, for me it works well because I have a hearing impairment and it's much easier to communicate in writing than on the phone.
JK

My husband has lung cancer and we love getting the test results online from his CT scans. It's good to know as soon as possible what the actual situation is; whether it's good or bad. My husband's last full body scan showed a very small amount of growth of 2 nodules but there were many nodules that were unchanged which is good. Also there were 11 mentions of other parts of his body being "unremarkable." If it's "unremarkable" it can't be bad!

In other types of tests, early information helps you take steps to improve the problem. If you are low in a certain level such as Potassium, look up what foods have Potassium in them and eat more of them. Also when you come across a term like Creatinine; (What is that?) just go to the Mayo Clinic and look it up.

Patients need more information not less; especially when their doctors are very over worked these days and can't often see them for weeks or months.
PML

@karen1945 I also like the patient portal to send messages because then what I want to say to the doctor gets to the doctor in my words, not interpreted by a nurse who answered the phone. Also, for me it works well because I have a hearing impairment and it's much easier to communicate in writing than on the phone.
JK

Yes! I find the response is quicker when I use the portal rather than the phone.

@casey1329, @becsbuddy, @gingerw, @artscaping, and all...Thanks Casey, for your good advice. This is a problem with this office for years. I've mentioned, complained and been quite verbal through the years, but no improvement. Often can't reach a person for hours or days!
With the new system, the same company Mayo uses, I had high hopes for improvement. It is much better....but the staff stil is horribly slow to respond. They have still not responded to the iron test results that are very important.
I'll chat with him in person and see what happens.
I'm just not willing to allow this kind of stress cause continued issues. No more.
Be blessed.
Elizabeth