Urgent Care - best run, most organized patient experience ever (and always actually)...
Health IT chic extraordinaire - 7 years ago
This comment is very fresh as this experience was just 6 weeks ago...My Doc was on Epic with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation but the hospital where I elected to have surgery was on Cerner (he does surgeries at 5 local area hospitals all on varying EHRs) . Because the systems do not inter-operate, there was a lot of duplication of medical history questions and med lists. In the end, the discharge instructions failed to include one drug the doc prescribed before the surgery via the Epic record. It was just a occasional use powder drug Rx, but it got me thinking about how serious it could have been if it was a more life-saving drug that was omitted! Also, the day of surgery, there was a three-ring binder (yes, that's what I said) with paper records of my lab tests, etc. So, have we come very far with EHRs? I'm not so sure....
Betsy - 7 years ago
My most recent appointment was with my former OB/gyn, right before I moved states.
The doctor himself was all right. He's near retirement age, definitely experienced, still interested in medicine, and wonderfully willing to explain things. It was, however, pretty vexing to me to see his disinterest in using his EHR. (My first visit there, his tablet ran out of batteries a few minutes in and he called the MA in to make paper notes. My eventually retrieved records were... sparse.)
However, the office... if I hadn't had something complicated going on, I would have switched providers. The wait was always an hour or more, even if I was literally the second patient seen that day. They tended to forget scripts and forms, and their phone tree was broken (completely so, if you called the number on Google).
Most annoying to me was that they collected payments up front - which is good practice, sure - but if I hadn't carefully compared all my records/claims right before I moved I wouldn't have noticed that they owed me a couple hundred dollars. Much of it was from service at the beginning of the year, and I have no idea what would have happened if I hadn't been willing to check and actively pursue. This was in a low SES area of town, too, and I doubt most patients there even know how to read their claims - or can spare a couple hundred as an interest-free loan to their doctor! Financial health matters too, y'all.
Susan Chindemi - 7 years ago
The key to my primary care doctor's office seems to be centered around the fact that everyone is over the top with their communication, both internally and with their patients. I was thrilled when my doctor let me know that she could order my medication electronically. Unlike my family in the Midwest, getting an appointment is not a problem. They also have walk in sick hours.
PatientX - 7 years ago
My last appointment was a routine check-up, and I showed up with a handful of concerns I wanted to run past my PCP. I shared my questions via the patient portal before arriving for the visit. The registration desk was running well, and got me checked-in pretty painlessly. My doctor knew what I wanted to talk about, and brought up my questions on his own. Made me feel like we were having an ongoing conversation about my health and decisions, as opposed to just being a list of metrics he needed to meet. I also had a good conversation with the nurse about the relative benefits of getting a flu shot. Everybody on the crew seemed to be on the same page, which made the entire visit flow smoothly.
PharmerH - 7 years ago
I have a tracheostomy and therefore unable to speak. No matter which office. No matter how many times I have documented this or written it out on my iPad asking them to contact me by text or email the very next interaction always asks me to call them. I'm thinking maybe I should actually call and tap out my message in Morse code.
Jill Somero - 7 years ago
I am pleased to have noticed that my kids' pediatrics office has been transforming to a patient centered medical home over the past 5-10 years. Same day appointments abound, infant hospital records are obtained and discussed during the first visit. Many of these changes are quite meaningful to us as a family of patients.
Urgent Care - best run, most organized patient experience ever (and always actually)...
This comment is very fresh as this experience was just 6 weeks ago...My Doc was on Epic with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation but the hospital where I elected to have surgery was on Cerner (he does surgeries at 5 local area hospitals all on varying EHRs) . Because the systems do not inter-operate, there was a lot of duplication of medical history questions and med lists. In the end, the discharge instructions failed to include one drug the doc prescribed before the surgery via the Epic record. It was just a occasional use powder drug Rx, but it got me thinking about how serious it could have been if it was a more life-saving drug that was omitted! Also, the day of surgery, there was a three-ring binder (yes, that's what I said) with paper records of my lab tests, etc. So, have we come very far with EHRs? I'm not so sure....
My most recent appointment was with my former OB/gyn, right before I moved states.
The doctor himself was all right. He's near retirement age, definitely experienced, still interested in medicine, and wonderfully willing to explain things. It was, however, pretty vexing to me to see his disinterest in using his EHR. (My first visit there, his tablet ran out of batteries a few minutes in and he called the MA in to make paper notes. My eventually retrieved records were... sparse.)
However, the office... if I hadn't had something complicated going on, I would have switched providers. The wait was always an hour or more, even if I was literally the second patient seen that day. They tended to forget scripts and forms, and their phone tree was broken (completely so, if you called the number on Google).
Most annoying to me was that they collected payments up front - which is good practice, sure - but if I hadn't carefully compared all my records/claims right before I moved I wouldn't have noticed that they owed me a couple hundred dollars. Much of it was from service at the beginning of the year, and I have no idea what would have happened if I hadn't been willing to check and actively pursue. This was in a low SES area of town, too, and I doubt most patients there even know how to read their claims - or can spare a couple hundred as an interest-free loan to their doctor! Financial health matters too, y'all.
The key to my primary care doctor's office seems to be centered around the fact that everyone is over the top with their communication, both internally and with their patients. I was thrilled when my doctor let me know that she could order my medication electronically. Unlike my family in the Midwest, getting an appointment is not a problem. They also have walk in sick hours.
My last appointment was a routine check-up, and I showed up with a handful of concerns I wanted to run past my PCP. I shared my questions via the patient portal before arriving for the visit. The registration desk was running well, and got me checked-in pretty painlessly. My doctor knew what I wanted to talk about, and brought up my questions on his own. Made me feel like we were having an ongoing conversation about my health and decisions, as opposed to just being a list of metrics he needed to meet. I also had a good conversation with the nurse about the relative benefits of getting a flu shot. Everybody on the crew seemed to be on the same page, which made the entire visit flow smoothly.
I have a tracheostomy and therefore unable to speak. No matter which office. No matter how many times I have documented this or written it out on my iPad asking them to contact me by text or email the very next interaction always asks me to call them. I'm thinking maybe I should actually call and tap out my message in Morse code.
I am pleased to have noticed that my kids' pediatrics office has been transforming to a patient centered medical home over the past 5-10 years. Same day appointments abound, infant hospital records are obtained and discussed during the first visit. Many of these changes are quite meaningful to us as a family of patients.