I’ll admit, I’m pretty frustrated right now lol. me and my doctor have been trying to submit a referral to a specialist but for the last several weeks, when i call them, they still haven’t gotten it yet. they told me it’s because they only have one fax machine so it refuses any incoming faxes if it’s in the middle of printing a different one.

my problem is, why haven’t we come up with a more modern and secure way of sending medical files?!?! am i crazy for thinking this is a super unprofessional and unnecessary barrier to care?

luckily I’m mobile enough to drive a physical copy to their location, but not everybody who needs to see this type of doctor can do that, nor should they have to.

  • cheers_queers@lemm.eeOPEnglish
    0·
    hace 1 mes

    this makes no sense to me when patient portals exist. why isn’t there a provider portal that can handle sending medical info back and forth? I can see all my medical details online already.

    • TORFdot0@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      hace 1 mes

      Providers have a market incentive to provide the most convenient experience to their patients. The market incentive does not exist for sending information to other providers so they will take the path of least resistance to be compliant with regulation

      • cheers_queers@lemm.eeOPEnglish
        0·
        hace 1 mes

        read my post again. this is a provider that is probably losing business because people can’t get their referral in to see them unless they walk it through the door themselves. how is that convenient?

        • King_Bob_IV@startrek.websiteEnglish
          1·
          hace 1 mes

          I have never seen a specialist without a giant wait-list. These providers tend to have too many patients so they have a negative incentive for trying to make it easier to reach them.

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      hace 1 mes

      See, you’re thinking 21st century, but this is both a healthcare management technology and a government regulation issue, so you’re 2 centuries too new. We need to go back to 1843 with the electric printing telegraph, which used pendulums and electric signals to scan images and send them over telegraph wires. That’s where healthcare technology regulations stopped.

      • 4am@lemm.ee
        0·
        hace 1 mes

        That is patently false. Encrypted email and patient portals are absolutely allowed under regulation.

        What you have here is a practice that has probably been in operation since the 80s or before, and they refuse to change their ways.