The Patient Portal—Help or Hindrance?

I find the patient portal to be a wonderful tool for tracking and taking care of my health. How else can we be advocates for ourselves without this information! We need to be involved in our care so WE can make the best decisions after looking at all the facts.

I hear you. I had a heart problem a few years back and was wearing a device to measure my heart. I had questions for my cardiologist and was told that he would answer all my concerns at my next appointment. I could only speak to the nurse there. Didn't really feel I was getting the level of care that would have put me at ease.

Yes the University of Washington is awesome. My sister in law was treated fo cancer there and they really took good care of her, 4 years later is doing great. I live in billings,mt. St. Vincent health care and billimgs clinic are well regarded. I will continue the prayers for both of you

Hi ellisa!
Thank you for the kind comments and prayers! That was so nice of you! You are so right! God is there for us and our doctors always! We are not fortunate enough to be at the Mayo Clinic because we live in Edmonds, Washington. However we do go to a very good hospital, the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington which is 15 miles south of Edmonds. It has great doctors there and my husband gets excellent care. However, I do research his cancer and treatment on the Mayo Clinic because I know I am getting the very best advice and I do! I also research my own physical problems such as incontinence on the Mayo Clinic website. We are so lucky to be able to do that! This forum has been great! I get good advice and suggestions and also get to meet nice people like you!
Thanks so much!
PML

@ce1b such a perfect use of the portal!

I like having the instant gratification from the portal. I make notes to ask my doctor about.. but I do let the information marinate before digesting.

For me it’s a tool that allows me ease of communicating with my healthcare team..

Well, Nutmeg, you will be sadly surprised out there when you actually need care. Doctors and surgeons give us extremely limited time. If their nurses and staff can deal with us, you best believe they will. Gone are the days that you speak to your doctor directly. My friend has to wait 3 months to see her family doctor.

I don't know how I'd feel about a doctor like that. Sounds too cut & dried for me. I want to know that my doctor is there for me and doesn't just hand me off to a nurse. Not my idea of a caring physician, especially dealing with Cancer. Wish you all the best.

We have 2 extremes in health care each year, depending on our current residence. In our Minnesota home, where we try to have most of our care, very provider has a portal, and most of the larger ones "talk" to each other. Test results are available promptly, we communicate directly with the providers, care is generally superior.
In our Texas home, 1970's style care is prevalent. Individual practices, often with few or no xray and lab facilities in office, nobody covering nights and weekends, the ER is your only option...find your own specialists...except at 2 very busy teaching hospitals.

Here many hours are spent helping friends find care they need. Our friends 20 miles away, across the border, have an even tougher time - hardly anyone has insurance, hospital admission is not assured even if you have cash, and many of our friends must raise thousands before a family member can get surgery or chemo.

As hard as it is for us to get prompt care sometimes, many in the world are far worse off!
Sue

My experience with patient portals has depended on where I was. The good thing always was that I could see what was in my medical records as soon as it was available. The unfortunate thing was that I found errors in some cases, egregious ones. The other problem was that it highlighted a lack of communication. I had a hole in my heart diagnosed by echocardiogram, and then no word from the doctor for weeks, even when I repeatedly asked for it. It would have been simple to send a note by the portal to say it was a small hole and unlikely to be a problem. But he didn't. Things went from bad to worse. I ended up at the Mayo to get diagnosed, and it was a wonderful experience, with one exception. The neurologist I saw suggested a possible serious problem in her notes, but no one told me. I had to find it for myself. Not the best way to find such a potential diagnosis.
All in all, it's a definite positive. It keeps everybody honest and allows me to determine the quality of care I am receiving. It also is showing me what I need to ask about at appointments.