I have access to two different patient portals by different healthcare providers. I decided to review one of them today. We'll call this specific patient portal "Portal A".
Prescription Refills:
I've only used the prescription refill feature a few times, but it was really easy to navigate. The page that came up listed all my current medications and I was able to check boxes on the screen for which ones I needed refilled. It was always very frustrating calling my doctor's office for refills because they would demand that I come into the office and have a check up, but it's hard to make time for an appointment every time I need certain medications. I have a bad back and this particular doctor is far away from me, so it's really stressful to sit in the car during that long commute.
Messaging Centre:
Oh my gosh, thank god for this. The messaging service gives me the option to message any one of the doctors I see at this practice. When I first signed up it only allowed me to message the physician assistants, but now I can message my primary doctor. I'm not sure if that was a fluke or if they added it on. Either way, I didn't like messaging the PA because I didn't find her as sympathetic as my doctor. It's easier to message my doctor because he knows my history and is more familiar with my treatment. I do love the messaging feature, but I think they need to put "statuses" next to the doctors. One of the physicians went out of town and it would have been helpful if there was a label that said "inactive" or something like that. After you send a message a notification pops up that someone will respond within a certain time frame. However, I had an urgent matter that was not being addressed because I had no idea my doctor was not in the office.
Patient History:
I can't view my entire history. I can only view my patient history for this particular practice. There is a lot missing. I would not rely on this copy of my history in the event of an emergency, but it is nice having access to it at all. I don't have to fax my signature over.
Making Appointments:
I can't schedule any appointments through this portal, but I do get notifications of upcoming appointments. I'm so forgetful and this saves me having to write it down.
Lab Results:
I found this feature really cool. I get updates about procedures that I've had done. My favorite part is that I actually got to read my doctor's notes. It may not be like this for everything, but I had an MRI done and the lab results included the doctor's interpretation of the MRI. The only downside was that I could not understand everything my doctor wrote. I had to google a lot of stuff. I was really happy, though, because once my doctor enters the results in the system at her office, it automatically updates the same information into my patient portal. I'm always the first to know. I don't have to wait on a phone call anymore.
Special Features:
This specific portal has an app. It's really useful because I always have my phone on me, but I don't always have access to a laptop. It feels like I'm using a social media app, except no one but my doctors and myself can see what is put on my profile.
Overall:
I love how technology has developed, but there are certain things I want to discuss face to face with my doctor or even over the phone. I feel like the receptionists are quick to dismiss you because the portal exists. A lot of my inquiries come with "You can do that from the portal", which, if you hear it enough is annoying. I don't like to use the patient portal for important things, but I like to use it as proof that I have discussed a specific thing with my doctor. Like, when I am updating my ODS information with my school, I make sure to send the information over the portal first so if my doctor forgets I can reference actual documentation of my request.
I would give this patient portal 4 out of 5 thermometers.
