The Patient Portal—Help or Hindrance?

Just adding my 2 cents as a Rochester Mayo Clinic patient portal user - I've had the opportunity to participate in a few patient portal user interface testing and from what I've seen, they do care about patient needs. But I'm sure there is always room for improvement. They also have a link at the bottom of the portal to share your feedback which I have used on occasion if something seems wrong in the portal.

Thanks for your feedback (worth more than two cents, I'm sure 😄).
I'm not on the Mayo patient portal, so I can't speak to that one, but it's nice to hear about the user interface testing. Does the testing that you've been involved in include both healthcare workers and patients who use the platform? That would be helpful so that both "sides" could see and understand the needs of each other.
My hospital portal is MyChart which might not work exactly the same way as Mayo's Patient Portal. But my hospital also has focus groups that analyze the portal. I know that patients are part of the focus group but not sure about the healthcare professionals, as I never participated in one. Overall, the portal is helpful, and I definitely use it all the time. I'm glad to have it available to me, but there are a few aspects that are not patient-user friendly. As far as I know, when I contact them, they only offer technical support or correct misinformaton in my record. Thanks, again, for your feedback. It's very helpful. You have caused me to consider signing up the next time they have another focus group.

I'm not sure if the testing included healthcare workers but I would think they may have been the driving factor for getting patient input and part of the reason the testing was done.

@my44, and all... I love the Mayo portal and use it often! I love being able to see results of testing within a few hours and days depending on the type of tests. I firmly believe this is my body, my blood, pictures and tests of my cells and brain etc... Therefore, I must have immediate results as the testing is completed and read and the Mayo Portal provides immediate and excellent response. For that I am so thankful! It reduces my stress, the horrible worrying and imagining while awaiting results that can be life changing. What a magnificent improvement in health care, patient oriented care.

I also use MyChart with another hospital and a few doctors. It was late coming to the patient oriented scene, was vastly different and frustratingly unusable for years... but as it has revamped and based much of it's structure on the Mayo portal, I am pleased with it now. Still have difficulty syncing the information at times, but it is vastly improved.

Mayo portal support is excellent. Personally responsive, creative and patient driven in every way possible. On occasion I have contacted the support personally and response is beyond excellent. I am grateful for the support from the portal helping me understand my diagnoses, contact my medical staff, reporting to the staff and staying on top of my health life.

Blessings to all... Elizabeth

Thanks for your added comments -- agree with you entirely. What I gained from some of the recent comments on this is that not all of these portals are the same including how they are used by the provider as well as the patients. For example --- one portal I use has a good system for patients making appointments. Another has no option for that. The person (nurses most often) that sends and responds to messages just tells the patients when the MD wants to see them next. If the patient has a request they contact the nurse.

You're right, these portals aren't all the same. Actually, I'm on portals at two different hospitals, and my experience is similar to yours regarding making appointments through the portal. Both portals let you make appointments for some providers, but not all. For some you have to call a central scheduling line. What I like about one of the portals is that it allows you to put yourself on a waiting list in case an earlier appointment becomes available. And if one does, they automatically contact you to see if you want to take the earlier availability. But the other portal doesn't have that option.
What I like about the portals is that when I go in for blood draws, some of the results are already in the portal before I get home...and I don't live far from the facilities.

Hi, Elizabeth,
Yes, all portals are not the same. It sounds like Mayo's patient portal is great and very user friendly. The MyChart portals that I use are both generally really good, but there are a few applications that need to be a little more user friendly. But I do like using these portals and the independence and flexibility it gives me. I, too, like that I'm able to pull up information whenever I want without waiting for a doctor to get in touch with me. Like you, I also appreciate the fact that test results are posted fairly quickly with some even getting to the portal before I get home from the blood draw. And it's also a plus that I can get and see the results even before the provider sees them. That allows me to review the results and determine what questions, if any, I might want to ask the doctor. Years ago, you had to wait for days or even a week for the doctor to call you with the results. So, I really do appreciate this modern technology.

I use the Messages feature to list the questions that I have before an important appointment. It seems to make the appointment go more smoothly, and the doctor, or N.P, might actually need to look something up to be better prepared for the visit.

@becsbuddy I’ve been surprised how much angst this right to see has caused!

I don’t look. It’s simple. I wait for my meeting with my oncologist and he tells me what I need/want to know.

I do know there are people who like to carefully read all of their results (and have become very adept at doing so). They like to be able to prepare questions at their leisure for when they meet their doctors. They then like to be able to refer back after seeing their oncologist again at their leisure. I don’t.

It’s a win win law. Look or don’t look. The choice is there 😊

I do the same. Works great.