I'm PISSED

[alternative]

Only a matter of time that AI will analyze these forms and have a set of diagnosis before you see the doctor (or some less well trained provider). Be happy now if you still can see a real doctor (MD or DO)

 

[OutlawStar]

First they texted me a link to the form. Entered the link into my computer web browser. Doesn't work because I have to access it through the hot link in the text. These forms are more invasive than than needed.

Fine. Fill out the usual name address phone stuff. Wait it already had my name okay. If my name was already filled in, why wasn't the phone number? They used it to text me.
They wanted my gender. Sorry, I have a sex. Then they wanted a list of my meds. Okay but at 528.5 dog years old, it's quite a list. So they say type in the first 3 letters of a med then choose from a pull down list. No--I would have typed in the complete name but I'm not going on a scavenger hunt for the names. They get a list Monday.

Emergency Contact, okay put my wife down...now they want to know her relationship...what does that matter? The correct relationship is designated emergency contact.

Next they wanted family history...Has nothing to do with my nose but if they want it they can ask my parents who are buried in Kansas City.

Race? What does that matter? Are different races having different noses, medically speaking? It's for government tracking. F-em

If you skip a question, it won't let you continue. Finally down to psyc section. Damn, no selection for angry.

Almost all the questions have predetermined acceptable answers in pull down menus.

Almost done, in a blazingly fast 23 minutes.

Finally done, they want me to rate the experience. Poor is generous.

Web portals are cheaper and easier than paper files; even if you're an old phart demanding a paper form when you get there, the girl behind the desk takes that paper form and enters it into the computer and then she shreds it. You're not bypassing going into a computer.
Auto fill forms are clunky at best, and I wholly agree; I hate that everything is designed to be completed on a cell phone but that allegedly what I am told consumers want. I don't like it, but I'm also guessing these portals and forms are created in india where they love doing random tasks on their phone instead of a regular computer.
Gender and sex were interchangeable to normal people before the blue-hairs got a hold of redefining words. How is this a big deal to anyone normal?
List of meds is to see if one of them is causing your symptoms or ailments. Its quite common even today with computers cross referencing them, doctors and pharmacists cross referencing, but its still good to have another doctor (your ENT) give a 5th opinion on them all. Then on top of that people will be taking medications that aren't cross referenced by their doctor or pharmacist for various reason. It is frustrating but the number of people who will misspell, or misremember what they're actually taking is why those drop downs exist considering how close some medications are in name only. Just like Carlin said: imagine the average person and then realize half the population is dumber than them. The system is in there because too many dumb people don't give doctors the correct information so hurdles are in place to help that.
Emergency contact is just that; is it your son, wife, friend, mother, drinkin buddy, or uber driver. They might have to ask hard questions like "you're the emergency contact for Army1911, can you legally make decisions in an emergency? He's seizing on the table and we need to know specific information".
Race is definitely important despite what aforementioned blue-hairs say. Turns out different races have actual differences, particularly medical. Its not government tracking, its actual science leftists want to ignore. It is important.
Not sure what the psych question is but if its trying to track to see if you have some other mental condition like Alzheimer's and you're not remembering picking your nose until it bleeds resulting in making an appointment, they might want to know about that. That may be in the meds section for clues if for example you're taking other psych meds. Maybe you've had a stroke or something else with the brain where the blood may be coming from and draining through the nose. Again, important stuff for your doctor to be aware of. If you did put down "patient questionnaires make me irrationally angry and leads to nosebleeds" that'd be a good piece of information too.

I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on TV, but telling your doctor to F-off and fly blind when diagnosing you is probably not better than spending 23 minutes of letting them know about conditions that could be related to your nosebleeds. This sounds like a first world problems thread of filling out questionnaires in order to engage in quality healthcare. What next, you had to wait in line at the oil change place and during checkout they wanted your email?

 

[Whistler]

Thank you for so eloquently explaining the obvious, I had no idea!
You'll forgive my impertinence if I don't want the results of the $17000 worth of tests via a phone app and demand my doctor tell me, explain it and answer my questions! How about my Dr spend a bit more time providing that quality healthcare face to face, actually earn that $250 instead of the 18 seconds he shows his face? I can explain my issues much better in person, maybe even answer a few follow-ups. Making an effort to develop a relationship might even better inform his diagnosis?
It must be my failing memory that makes me think I have already listed the medications he prescribed, repeatedly, along with family history and every scratch I've had since infancy. If this portal is so great, why can't it keep track of what I've entered? Maybe prompt me for changes instead of repeating the entire process, every, single, time?
I don't think most people are as stupid as you would like to believe or maybe it's a superiority complex that makes you such a smartass?
My healthcare is not about anyone's convenience, and I don't care to be reduced to a record on an app.
First world problems at a first world price, I expect first world care.

 

[kbaxter60]

I expect first world care.

And that, right there, is where you went off the rails.

 

[benenglish]

I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on TV, but telling your doctor to F-off and fly blind when diagnosing you is probably not better than spending 23 minutes of letting them know about conditions that could be related to your nosebleeds.

OK, in the broad outlines, I basically agree.

But can we also agree that having to be subjected to those damn drug infomercials to complete the check-in process is really low-class and objectionable?

 

[benenglish]

First world problems at a first world price, I expect first world care.

(I hope you know I'm not ragging on you, Whistler, but) You talk like you think you're the customer.

The customer is the person who pays the bills...or at least most of them. When my doctors see me, the customer they're serving is my insurance company.

I remember how crestfallen my mother's face looked the first time I explained to her "You're not the customer. The insurance company is the customer. You're just an irritating little procedural step that this office must take to serve that customer and get paid by them."

In all seriousness, I put my mom into a real depression with that. In retrospect, that seems appropriate; most of the U.S. healthcare system is depressing these days.

 

[deemus]

I like the portal, its easier IMO and I don't have to talk out loud in front of people. I enter all that data the day before and when I show up its go time.

I don't get any ads when I log into the portal. There are some at the end, but I can easily bypass them.

I prefer the pre-check-in to my doctor via the portal. I've not waited more than 5 minutes since they switched to that system. Its usually about 2 minutes. I like it.

I don't recall the gun question, like ever. Maybe they just knew...... lololol

 

[OutlawStar]

OK, in the broad outlines, I basically agree.

But can we also agree that having to be subjected to those damn drug infomercials to complete the check-in process is really low-class and objectionable?

Oh sure! Its very telling when drug advertisements makes up [at least] 75% of all advertising on television. I no longer buy the "they have to recoup R&D expenses" because they're spending billions on advertising their poisons while charging americans 10-100x prices they charge globally. But when there is that much money flowing, theres no chance of stopping any of it. Ever.

The check-in process on the phone or computer portal I see as a reasonably good thing. I'm old enough to remember showing up 30 minutes early, having to fill out 47 different forms to which you have no idea what they even were and often times writing the same information in pen multiple times. Every doctor and veterinarian I've ever talked to laments even with today's modern systems of texting people "Your appointment is tomorrow at 10am, please confirm this by texting 'confirm' to retain your appointment" and people just flat out don't show up. Alternatively they show up 15 minutes late and want to be seen immediately. At least with digital first-visit information input those same patients have days, if not weeks of advance time to input all that.

I had my own objectionable experience with a doctor recently; even after paying $2500 for services rendered thus far, she asked me to put a $100 deposit to keep my next appointment slot in 3 weeks. I told her no and that given my track record of showing up 10 minutes early and paying in full each visit I'm just not going to do that. She shrugged and put my appointment in anyway explaining because that doctor was so busy they often do just keep hundreds of dollars because people fall off the planet. Those policies exist for a reason at doctors offices, I am not that reason but the nurses and other staff are just following normal operating procedure, so my upset state of mind lasted seconds.

actually earn that $250 instead of the 18 seconds he shows his face?

We pay doctors because of their knowledge, skill, and expertise of fixing very complicated systems. You're not paying him to hear you babble on about nonsense for 30 minutes. If doctors did what you described of sitting down with you and talked and spent as much time as each patient needed to talk they'd see about 5-10 patients per day and have to charge them $2500 per office visit. That's the nature of the business but you already knew that because I only explain the obvious. I am working my way up to brigadier general obvious.
You can however get a very personal and attentive doctor; they're called concierge doctors. They run about $12,000 per year, selective of their clients, and sometimes charge more if you need extra x-rays and tests or whatever. No, thats not covered by medicare or other insurance.

First world problems at a first world price, I expect first world care.

See above paragraph. $250 isn't first world prices. $250 hasn't been a lot of money for many decades unfortunately.

 

[leVieux]

Well, I cannot say so about noses but other medical conditions do sometimes vary widely in how they affect people of different races. So race could be important to diagnose some conditions and treat them properly.The same thing goes for family history, for example if strokes, problems with blood not clotting properly or high BP run in your family, the doc may look at your nosebleeds in a very different way than as possibly being caused by something less troublesome. As for all the other stuff, why not simply wait until you get to their office, fill out their form with pen to paper and leave blank what you want to leave blank. I hope your wonkas, as you called them, have thawed out by now.

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There some race specific illnesses.
Also, race is an identifier.

I’m not justifying anything.

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[Aus_Schwaben]

I have been going to the doc because they say I need to get my blood pressure down. On one visit, I had to redo my entire history because "it is a new system." They asked irrelevant questions such as am I farm worker and, if so, am I a migrant worker? Income, housing status, etc.

For that visit my blood pressure was the highest ever...

 

[SARGE67]

I just did an inventory of the 8 docs I see frequently. All have had my initial "patient questionnaire" for several years and only ask if there have been changes in meds or conditions since last visit. I would have issues with any that didn't ask, I'm there for follow-ups. Often times there have been changes in a med or added one or two or stopped one. I'm there to help them to help me, period. Their check-ins vary. Maybe just a text reminder and/or phone call by a machine asking for a "C" to conform. Others a live person calls to remind day before. Others send email, phone call plus text messages several times from same doc. I used to cop an attitude about it but realized these are specialists who many folks are trying to get an app't with. And they do have people who are "no shows" and their slot could have been filled with someone else. The latter has become a serious problem all across the board. Older folks like me and maybe you are more considerate and cancel in time for others to get in.

 

[striker55]

I hate waiting, get to the office on time or early. Brought in to a room, blood pressure check, weight and temperature. Then wait for at least 20 minutes. Come on I have an appointment and been reminded about the appointment day before. I know shit happens but most times I'm the only one in the waiting room. One time during COVID the doctor wanted online visit, get a call, sent a link for video chat. Sat around for one hour thinking he will come on any minute. Finally I disconnected, get another call, WTF happened? He apologized said there was an emergency, I'm not buying it, someone dropped the ball.