Clinical information systems and healthcare patient portals are proving to be a significant waste of money. Millions of dollars are invested into developing and maintaining these platforms, often by third-party vendors, to provide patients with online access to their medical records. While the idea behind these portals is great in theory, the execution falls flat when healthcare providers continue to send massive amounts of paper copies through the mail, despite the digital system. This redundancy is both financially wasteful and environmentally harmful, especially when patients like me would prefer a paperless option.
Even more frustrating is that at my current health insurance company, I can't even opt out of receiving paper copies. Despite several attempts to request this, I'm told there's no way to stop the influx of mail. Now, I'm left with no choice but to purchase a $70 paper shredder just to deal with the overwhelming amount of unnecessary paperwork I receive. It feels like an outdated system where healthcare organizations are not fully committed to leveraging the digital tools they've invested in.
To make matters worse, the US Postal Service bears the burden of delivering all these unnecessary documents. This means taxpayers and other users of the postal system are indirectly subsidizing this inefficiency. It’s absurd that after all the time and money spent on developing patient portals, they’re not serving their purpose if the same information is just going to be mailed out anyway. It’s a huge missed opportunity for cost savings and sustainability.
For anyone curious about which platforms I'm talking about, my chart, Healow. These are the two that I have used. I'm sure there are many others, but Blue Cross is also part of the problem, they have their own custom proprietary software that you can log in and see your bill and all that stuff but they will still send you the crap in the mail. And cannot get them to stop
I’m taking a stance against these platforms by always declining to ever create an account on them when the doctor’s office asks. Having medical data accessible like this is just asking for an attack, followed by a leak. And then I can only assume insurance companies buy these leaked databases and adjust rates accordingly.
I’m talking out of my ass, but your data is likely still there whether you choose to create an account or not; so you’re still susceptible to data breaches either way.
I like to hope that my data won’t be released to companies like mychart without my consent.
If the doctor uses mychart, thats where they store the internal data whether you have an account or not. Its their entire computer system most of the time.
Yeah, a couple people are saying that, but I can’t find any information on how it’s implemented for providers. Regardless, not having an account is one less avenue for my information to be leaked. I do worry more about the doctor’s security practices (2FA, password complexity, password rotation, etc…) than my own.
I'm sure some places use it to share info, but usually it basically becomes their entire software stack. Its like the salesforce of the health world. It does their billing, shift management, HR, CMS, everything.
You don't have a clear picture.
My Chart is just a module of Epic systems. If it's accessible to you, it means your health care provider uses epic as EMR. You data is there, that's how the hospital or health care provider office works
What does this mean? MyChart is a software solution used by many medical providers. They don’t “release” medical information to them.
This would be like thinking someone using Office on their computer is “releasing” documents they create to Microsoft.
I mean, with o365, you technically do. Your example doesn't work as well as you think it does.
It does, your willful misinterpretation doesn’t change that.
I looked through your post history, you seem to have at least enough technical aptitude to understand that.
That's a bit aggressive towards someone with whom you are having a civil, anecdotal discussion. You're not trading in explosive pagers or nuclear materials. Could you dial it back a bit?
I wasn’t having a discussion with them or you however when you present incorrect information or are intentionally obtuse I will call it out.
If you want to engage me on the original topic I can happily explain both how the concept that a medical provider is “releasing” data to a software vendor is wrong and how equating O365 and Word is wrong.
I imagine you’re too busy finding ways to be offended on someone else’s behalf and making light of recent terrorist acts though.
Excuse me but web office apps are 95% on par with their desktop counterparts now. There are still a few power features missing but that gap is slowly closing constantly.
So I am not being willfully ignorant. I work with both daily.
Then you’re just being ignorant.
O365, which is actually Microsoft 365 now, is a suite of productivity software as well as collaboration and cloud-based services.
Word is a word processing program. They are not the same and use of Word does not equate to O365.
You should know this. Just like you should know that a business using a piece of software, such as a medical facility using Epic’s patient data management tools, does not equate to patient data being “released” to Epic.
Since you seem to be struggling with the concept perhaps a different example would be easier for you?
Just because you get an MRI doesn’t mean the data collected for the MRI is “released” to GE.
Do you realize how much data is sent from Word to the O365/M365 service as you type if you have an internet connection? Even if you aren't saving the document online, it sends a TON. Especially now with copilot.
I am aware of telemetry, yes.
Even if we ignore your continued conflation of Word and Microsoft 365, I suspect you have nothing to support your assertion that Word transmits the content of your document files to Microsoft.
Realistically this whole exchange is moot. A medical providers use of patient data management software in no way constitutes a “release” of data to that software provider as the person I originally replied to seemed to think.
Perhaps you’ll have an opportunity to administer a tenant someday and that’ll give you a better understanding.
It is not a conflation. Word is a component of M365.
I administer a tenant today that has given me plenty of understanding. Perhaps you should brush up on yours.
You’d never be able to tell. If this is true your “understanding” doesn’t show but I’ve seen some very dysfunctional organizations so I wouldn’t be surprised.
I think you misunderstand. I have no issue with the platform, if the platform is a complete end-to-end replacement that consumers can use. But that's not the case. They want you to use the platform, and they're going to send you pounds of paper in the mail. I don't want both. It should be either or! If I sign up for my chart, put everything in there. Send me emails. Why are you going to make me sign up for my chart, and now you're going to send me a statement every single week or month? Wtf? I need both?
No I get you. I just had a different problem with the same platforms that I wanted to voice.
Imagine a single payer world where our medical information being shared had no monetary impact.
Yeah, people can do other malicious things, but there wouldn't a financial incentive for the companies or agencies that have access to it.
Some things can be potentially embarrassing so your information could still be used against you by cyber gangs for money, so even though it’s no monetary impact for companies, the information still has a value.
So forcing everyone to use a single system, where everything about them can be known.
And we know how "secure" these systems aren't.
Dont be naive.
No, single payer as in who pays the bills, not centralizing everyone's medical history.
Ex spouses and debt collectors will always, always find value in snooping.