The Patient Portal—Help or Hindrance?

Info-addict portal.
I am addicted to checking results; want to know.

Sometimes, it's too much because I am not a MD and cannot adequately decipher info.

However, seeing my biopsy report on a Friday evening, it was clear that I had aggressive cancer (8s & a 9).
And that enabled me to process over the weekend and get started Monday with a 2d opinion appt at a center of excellence and I am certain it saved me time to RP.

It can be disconcerting; or very helpful; or both at the same time.

Penultimate example of patient empowerment, albeit upsetting.

Does Mayo use “MyChart?
If they don’t then you won’t be able to use it for Mayo.

One of the hospitals I stayed at was a hospital that had its own portal so using MyChart was fruitless . Too bad because you have several different portals that can’t be linked together so that they can all be on the same page.
MyChart has a searchable database of hospitals, clinics, pharmacies etc..
Just type the name of the hospital either by state, name of hospitals or zip codes.

That is strange. At Mayo I always have an appointment after a CT scan or MRI to go over the results. Typically it is the same day but occasionally it is the next day. The law says the results have to be available to the patient without delay and this is part of the problem that we have been talking about here. Most patients are not able to properly interpret results of radiology scans and can make bad assumptions. The law makes this possible. The health care providers want to give you a proper interpretation but it becomes a scheduling issue. I experienced this myself by reading a radiology report after my chemo and radiation therapy as soon as it was available and making a bad interpretation. I was very worried until I received a proper interpretation from my care team. Now I don't read those reports ahead of time even though it is very tempting. I just bring a printed copy to my appointment and we discuss it. This works great!

It’s a tough one. I “discovered” my tumor in a report I happened across 8 months after a CT scan, in which a medical university erroneously failed to inform me or my PCP. By the time I found it, I was moving to a new state, so the further testing and biopsy to check for cancer was done by a different medical organization. Patient portals had improved more by then, and a patient could see that a report was complete, but couldn’t read it until the doctor had electronically reviewed it and released it to the patient. For 4 agonizing days I logged into my portal at least 20 times a day to see if the report had its status changed to “released for patient review”. I wasted a lot of time obsessed and waiting during those 4 days that finally ended with the phone call from the doctor, and I guess the results were what I had told myself the wait must have been about - Cancer. The result would have been the same if I had read it myself 4 days earlier, just a different frame of mind and mode I would have been in knowing versus wondering. But if it would have been NOT CANCER, I wouldn’t have been stressed with wonder those four days. Now with the new law, the results are directly available to me, so I jump right into the electronic reports the same afternoon and happily have read “no cancer” for 2 years now before the doctors make me wait until a follow up call or visit to hear it. The great news in all of this is that it’s a choice; no one is forced to enroll in the patient portals or click on reports. But because of that hospital error in omitting to share a vital result of a scan with me, I choose to be a better partner and advocate in my health to help their busy workloads so my results aren’t overlooked again.

@greatdayinmt67 Great observation!

I should note that my post refers to medical care within and outside of the Mayo.

I work in technology as an account manager (client advocate). It is possible for these institutions to set up processes for a PA, Doctor, or other to reach out to the patient. The distress to patients is unnecessary and damaging. These institutions' role is to provide health care. We are all aware of the impact of stress yet this is not being addressed. It's mind-blowing to me.

I 'discovered' my tumor based on a CT scan that was delivered to me on a Friday at 4:00 pm without any human interaction. It was devastating. I spent the weekend trying to understand what I was reading. This is unacceptable yet it's the norm. In fact, every MRI/CT is delivered without any phone call after I've had numerous. conversations about this very topic. The guise of 'transparency' is a deflection from making the necessary change and establishing a process that works for staff and patients. Let's put humanity back into patient care.

That’s what‘s good about portals, especially a bunch of linked ones. I like them because I can be involved in my own health care decisions . The 2nd hospital suggested surgery but I opted to check with my own cardiovascular surgeon after I called him and he said he wanted to do a sonogram because he had already seen the hospital’s diagnosis and ct scan results and he wants to make sure I don’t need unnecessary surgery.

Thanks again for your reply!
I too read notes and tests immediately. Funny thing, last year I saw ENT based on head CT scan indicating fungal ball in sinus which requires removal. ENT ordered sinus CT scan and at same time put in order to schedule surgery for removal. The sinus scan result was posted immediately. I saw it identified "fungal ball" as dental implant/debris in sinus, therefore no need for surgery. The staff called 30 minutes later to schedule surgery that week, so I told them to check with ENT - who obviously had not had time to see scan. I avoided lost time and inconvenience of scheduling and then cancelling the surgery!

I get some doctors notes because that’s one of the options in the menu but they tell you that those notes go to my PCP, my cardiologist, my cardiovascular surgeon
Any doctor that is dealing with my condition. I have a pulmonologist that doesn’t have a portal at all. These records are sent to my PCP every time and if it’s a heart issue my cardiologist will also get a copy. I’m a diabetic and my PCP handles that. I’m only type II so a pill will do.
There shouldn’t be a conflict because MyChart is independent. So you could have all three. If Mayo and Alina are linked together and they use MyChart then that’s ok but even if they have portals that they control you can connect them to MyChart plus any other organization as long as they all use MyChart.

Emergency departments in the 4 hospitals I’ve used all know I belong to MyChart and they digitally send the information to MyChart and it’s almost instantaneous.

As soon as I’m discharged from the hospital I go home and (if I’m feeling well) go to my phone and the MyChart icon in my phone’s app home page and open it. It’s great. I can take my time as I am no longer in a chaotic emergency room. Doctors notes and a summary plus your discharge information is all there. It even lists the meds they gave you while there. I use my local White Cross pharmacy and the doctor sends any prescription straight through their laptops and my meds get delivered to me home within 4-5 hours.
My dentist is listed on my PCP’s portal because they both use their version of MyChart. You can play with the app . Don’t worry, doing so will not cause a conflict. Mayo and Alina may use the same portal that you linked them both on. Nice part is that MyChart is totally free.