Government run health care

[Daisy and Delilah]

OMG!! Marigold, you have gotten so far off your original path, I can no longer keep up with it. Oh....wait a minute, I couldn't ever keep up with it......I thought I was confused. Now I feel like I've been stranded on a deserted island with no hope for rescue.

All you're saying is well and good. We would all like to live in a perfect world. It just doesn't happen like that. Aren't you the person that is normally dripping with bitterness and criticism? Your latest posts sound like they were written by someone living on Big Rock Candy Mountain. How did you get where you are now?

I also have enough trouble keeping myself in order. I have no time to dream for other people. Please come back to 2009.

[cassiesmom]

You guys are making the case for getting technology into medical records! Less mistakes, greater ability and ease to share information.

My primary care doc is at Loyola University Medical Center. Almost completely paperless office. What took me some getting used to is that she types her notes into the computer while we are talking. I'm looking at her and she's looking at the computer. But it's pretty cool - she can look up my lab results and write orders (time for your mammogram, Elyse; I'll put an order in now [click click click], and you can make your appointment with the scheduler when you check out) as we are talking. They can even e-mail prescriptions directly to Walgreens for me.

At the dermatologist's office - she had a little device in her hands that looked like a computer game. Bigger than a PDA, but not as large as a laptop computer, and she was using a little pencil-like thingy to touch her notes right onto the screen. Zero paper there too. I have a prescription that was printed off of their computer, so it is on plain paper instead of Rx pad. I hope Walgreens will be able to accept it - we'll see!

I wish they could talk to each other electronically and I could read all their notes. I doubt that will happen anytime soon, though. I just have to remember to tell my primary care doc what the dermatologist said next time I go. I earned that responsibility by deciding not to go to a derm at Loyola. If I had, it would all be in the computer already. Oh well.

[Daisy and Delilah]

My primary care doc is at Loyola University Medical Center. Almost completely paperless office. What took me some getting used to is that she types her notes into the computer while we are talking. I'm looking at her and she's looking at the computer. But it's pretty cool - she can look up my lab results and write orders (time for your mammogram, Elyse; I'll put an order in now [click click click], and you can make your appointment with the scheduler when you check out) as we are talking. They can even e-mail prescriptions directly to Walgreens for me.

At the dermatologist's office - she had a little device in her hands that looked like a computer game. Bigger than a PDA, but not as large as a laptop computer, and she was using a little pencil-like thingy to touch her notes right onto the screen. Zero paper there too. I have a prescription that was printed off of their computer, so it is on plain paper instead of Rx pad. I hope Walgreens will be able to accept it - we'll see!

I wish they could talk to each other electronically and I could read all their notes. I doubt that will happen anytime soon, though. I just have to remember to tell my primary care doc what the dermatologist said next time I go. I earned that responsibility by deciding not to go to a derm at Loyola. If I had, it would all be in the computer already. Oh well.

With this age of cutting edge technology, Elyse, you would think communication would be easy. Can anyone understand how it is so hard for all of these people to be on the same page? Is there not a way to have a universal data base for all things medical for a particular social security number? If not a SS #, some other point of ID?

I have seen, in my experiecne with doctors, they are not really interested in what the other doctors say anyway. Can this ever be fixed properly? It's the million dollar question I guess.

[caseysmom]

Thats what I like about Kaiser, everything is on the computer and even I can see a lot of it and I can email any of my doctors.

My podiatrist has been wonderful, he even gave me his home number.

[blue]

The more training I get in computers, networks, and comp security the less I like my medical records being all computerized.

Ive seen people turn a user name into a IP address, and into a home address. Heck, if your user name is tied to a photo I can find it.

[TINFOILHAT]What else can I find from just a user name?[/TINFOILHAT]

[caseysmom]

I could care less if anyone saw my medical records.

[blue]

I could care less if anyone saw my medical records.

You would if you knew everything that was in you medical records, including all of your "private" information.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Thats what I like about Kaiser, everything is on the computer and even I can see a lot of it and I can email any of my doctors.

My podiatrist has been wonderful, he even gave me his home number.

We have been thinking of switching to Kaiser during open enrollment this year. I have heard such good things about them. I especially like the ability to email and check things on line.

Do they usually have onsite pharmacy or mail order?

Computerize records cannot be any less accurate or confidential that paper records.

[caseysmom]

We have been thinking of switching to Kaiser during open enrollment this year. I have heard such good things about them. I especially like the ability to email and check things on line.

Do they usually have onsite pharmacy or mail order?

Computerize records cannot be any less accurate or confidential that paper records.

I have never tried the mail order pharmacy, I have heard it can take a while.

It just depends on your doctor, I got a good doctor when I broke my foot. A few years ago when I had a pinched nerve in my neck the care wasn't as good.

I can email my doctor any type of concerns and he always answers me very promptly, that has been the case with all my doctors.

[caseysmom]

You would if you knew everything that was in you medical records, including all of your "private" information.

There are so many replies to that but I will behave

[Cataholic]

There is something in this recent discussion that is bothering me.

There was a thread in the last couple of weeks about a celebrity who was being blackmailed.

One poster referred to the son of this celebrity using a pejorative - because the parents were not married at the time of the child's birth. I tried to respond using the same pejorative for the grandson of a recently failed politician. But I just could not hit the enter key.

I don't think children should be labeled because of their parents. I don't think this dated word should be used today. It is demeaning and irrelevant.

I thought someone else would say something. But no one did. And I wonder why?

I was going to say something. But, then, I would have been told I was being 'defensive' or 'angry'. It is like arguing with some one that says, "you just like to argue". Any thing you say after that point seems suspect. So, I said nothing.

I do think it funny that when the rest of you "pure" (i.e., married, married with children, etc. You know, the 'right' way, LOL) people jumped in and expressed dismay at some of the comments posted that I didn't hear the 'why are you so defensive' or 'why are you so mad/angry' responses.

These types of comments are really offensive- no matter what someone's orientation.

[Edwina's Secretary]

What do insurance companies and Goldilocks have in common....

Not too big...not too small!

Earlier I posted about an infant who was turned down for insurance coverage (until his parents took their case to the MSM) for being too big.

Now here is a case of a child turned down for insurance coverage (until her parents took their case to the MSM) for being too small!

Too Small

And some people wonder why we need reform???

[blue]

The running theme Im seeing isnt that we need HCR , but we need Health Insurance Reform. But just reforming the HI business doesnt let .gov into the racket.

[RICHARD]

The running theme Im seeing isnt that we need HCR , but we need Health Insurance Reform. But just reforming the HI business doesnt let .gov into the racket.

Dude.

The whole point about HCR and HIR is money.

The current regime just want to create more paperwork..lol, sorry, we are going paperless!!!...money and forms to fill out.

A week ago I saw that some phone users lost all the info on their phones because of a computer glitch.

People care more about their cell phone apps and info so why would they GAS about their medical records.


BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......

Everyone had a paranoia about having their computers tossed by the government but have no worries about hackers stealing their MRs???

Next time you go to an ER or see the doc take a second to ask about your 'face sheet' on your account.

Age, weight, DOB, job, address, phone numbers, SSN, kids, I could get their info from that- I can get all you operations, doctor's notes....."Doc, My XXXX hurts when I XXXXXX.

If you think that you info is safe on line? You should see the stuff that the employees 'peek and leak' about your personal info.

And it's all there, at the touch of a button.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I always have to chuckle at people who are afraid of change.

The only thing that makes electronic medical records "more easy" to access is that electronic records are more legible. Handwritten records are notoriously prone to error because of bad handwriting. Sometimes even the people who are suppose to read them cannot.

Files left unlocked, documents left on copy machines, misfilings, etc. etc.

I have worked with "paper" personnel files for 30 years and know what all can go wrong.

People just need to get over "we've always done it that way" and their fear of change!