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The Patient Portal—Help or Hindrance?
Just Want to Talk | Last Active: Feb 17 12:10am | Replies (227)Comment receiving replies
I absolutely love the portal! Getting test results back prior to meeting with my doctor allows me time to look things over, do research, and start making a list of questions. It used to be that when I would meet with my doctor to get the results, I would leave and then have a million questions, and we all know how hard it is to communicate with your team, playing phone tag, etc.
I understand the portal is not for everyone so you just have to do you. Getting labs and scans done, then waiting for a week for results used to create more anxiety for me. Now I actually get some of my blood results back while I'm still waiting to scan. And more often than not, I have scan results before I get half way home (I drive a little over 2 hours for these appointments).
Replies to "I absolutely love the portal! Getting test results back prior to meeting with my doctor allows..."
Hello @kellysg and welcome to Connect.
I'm with you on the "Love the Portal" fan club. For me, at least, it reduces anxiety to see the results right away. With regards to scan results, I appreciate having the opportunity to read them (even if I don't understand everything) and then to look up unfamiliar terms and develop a list of questions to send to my doctor either through the patient portal or at my next appointment.
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You hit the nail on the head; doctors are so rushed in this whole health business model, that when you get to your 15 minutes with them you better be prepared and hurriedly get what you want answered in your allotted time. I have seen where health portals start documenting things done outside of your office visit: phones calls they have with you, or on behalf of you (sending prescription refills), and email correspondences with you. I have read where doctors and offices are now getting overwhelmed with the time needed with those, and we (and insurance companies) may eventually see the systems start charging for those. So if it’s going to come to that, look at your results ahead of time and be prepared to hit the ground running the 15 minutes face time you may get in person with your doctor once or twice a year.