Doctors using electronic medical records

teriwtt
Thu, 11 Aug 2011 01:10:43 +0000

BTW, as a patient I used to get test results, etc. mailed to me before the appointment. That was nice, as I could prepare any questions I had ahead of time. No more. I haven’t seen a test result in over two years.



Another fan of EMR. My primary physician has been using them for a couple of years now. Whenever I have any lab work done, and the results come in, I get an email telling me to sign onto my account for results. Many times these emails come at night, so I figure I’m seeing them before my physician is, unless he’s regularly checking his email late at night. The program they use also allows you to go back to previous years, and create a graph or chart of blood tests that you’ve taken more than once (i.e., cholesterol, iron, thyroid, etc.). It keeps track of immunizations, due dates for diagnostic testing (when your last mammogram, colonoscopy, etc.).

The nurse is the one who takes all of the vitals and records them in the computer, so the physician is only typing in the narrative of the visit, which I think is better to do as you go along, as opposed to trying to recall information several hours later and several patients later. I have a couple of prescriptions that I do mail order - a three-month supply at a time - and now when I do my yearly visit with him, he electronically refills them with my mail order prescription company. I don’t even see a written prescription; a few days later, they arrive in the mail.

As someone who has had to chart electronically before, I really appreciate that my physician is filling out the form as we go, and that anything that needs to be taken care of, has been done before I walk out of the office.

One more benefit… if I have any tests, shots, medication changes made or given by another physician, I can email my doctor with this EMR system, and let them know. They then add it to my chart and I get a reply back saying they have received the information and have noted it on the chart.

Just went online and checked; they also use Epic.

Also, whenever I have a visit, I a Visit Summary sent to my email after the visit.