this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2024
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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 It feels like an outdated system where healthcare organizations are not fully committed to leveraging the digital tools they've invested in.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

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 8 months ago

Blue Cross is also part of the problem

They're probably your entire problem.

They were my previous insurer, and yeah, they sent letter after letter after letter after letter after letter after letter after letter after....

My current insurance? I get exactly zero letters in the mail about anything: it's all digital through their portal and email.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 8 months ago (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

No I get you. I just had a different problem with the same platforms that I wanted to voice.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I’m a developer at the biggest one of these systems in America. It is stupid expensive. But we support full electronic patient communication. And most of our competitors do too. I’m sorry you’re stuck with one of the few who doesn’t have that option or are choosing not to use it.

Hopefully they come around in the next decade!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

You must work for Epic.

I work on the hospital side and the cost and human effort investment for these systems is ridiculous. No wonder were behind the rest of the developed world in healthcare.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Just part of a larger trend of trying to digitize things that should never be digital.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Industry wants to place computer "solutions" between you and the world around you to the maximum extent possible. Data is money.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

What a fringe position. Patients and providers alike want digital access to health information.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Kaiser Permanente spent years and $120 million developing an huge replacement software system, and then gave up on it completely.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They'll get there in the next probably about 20 years or so.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

As long as the grift is profitable, doubtful