Patient Portals

Useless.  My friend just left one of her physicians for not responding to a request for information... The request was sent 4 months ago. 

I refuse to enter an email address for portals.


They don't respond when you call them either. I once went into an office with handcuffs and prepared to stay until I got a response...after waiting 6 weeks.


I use mostly doctors in summit medical group and the nurse or doc generally respond in 1-2 days to requests or questions through their patient portal. I think it’s a great option. I also love being able to look at test results without having to wait for copies to be sent.


Wasn't there a kvetch thread about this same topic recently?

I go to NYU Langone and the patient portal is very helpful (as long as I don't forget my username/ password LOL). The main doc I go to there usually gets back to me within a couple hours. Plus all info about past visits, doc instructions, etc. are in one place. 

Patient portals ain't perfect and I'm sure UX varies by practice, but IMO it beats the heck out of having to pick up the phone and call, and also having to keep your records in a physical file.  


I have 2 doctors who use Healow - I think it’s great. Love being able to get test results directly and then easily compare over time. And docs on both typically respond within hours.  One uses it to make appointments, the other doesn’t.


depends on the Dr.  Some of mine are great about returning questions, others .... forgetaboutit



I like the patient portal at SMG - lets me track my medical records, refer back to prior test results, verify that my history is correct and ask questions about things I think need to be clarified or amended. Most of the doctors I deal with are pretty responsive to messages sent via the portal.



My particular complaint is with Atlantic Healthcare portal. Response is poor. System crashes.


The portals are as good or bad as the medical people who use them. I've generally found the SMG portal very helpful, but not always. 


Actually there are two issues with portals.  First, how well designed and stable portals are.  Some simply aren't very good and don't work well or consistently.  Second, some doctors don't use them or respond to them promptly.  When they work, and the medical practice uses them, I agree, they are a great tool.  


My doctor (SMG) generally responds within 24 hrs, which has been very helpful during the period where I travelled out of the country 50% of the time (11 day trips).  In 2 or 3 cases, we dealt with the issue without an office visit (and thus no co-pay).

When I have needed an appointment with a specialist (3 times), I have submitted a request through the portal, and received a response within 2 days.



We’ve had massive data breaches in equivalent systems, so the National My Health Record system is causing a lot of concern. It’s compulsory, with an opt-out period that will close in November. 

I’ve attended a couple of agency briefing sessions about MHR, at which a couple of public health researchers from the US were also present. I was curious to hear their views on our new system, but wasn’t really able to catch up and chat. 

How confident are you in the security of your info? How long is it all kept for? Who coordinates the data input?



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