MyChart

Is anyone else's doctor here using "MyChart" to interface with patients now? It's great, I can just message my doctor and I don't have to call the office and be put on hold and transferred around for 5 minutes. So amaze!

I love My Chart. It also keeps track of the bills.....what insurance pays and what is owed.

Greatest non-medical improvement in health care since…ever?

MyChart is great for requesting prescription refills or asking a quick question. Just remember that it's probably a PA responding, not the actual doctor. Although I've had responses from him too. You can read your test results as well as your doctor's notes (abridged) following an office visit. If you have doctors at different hospital systems which use MyChart, there is a way to link them.

Yes, my doctors use MyChart and I do really like it. I worked for the hospital where all appointments are and am a data analyst and actually got EPiC certified (that’s the electronic medical record behind my chart). It’s the craziest system I’ve ever seen and was invented by a genius/insane woman in Wisconsin. They have a farm outside of Madison that’s like an amusement park where you go for weeks at a time to train. The place is full of cool pop art, and attractions. There’s a three story slide and a castle.on the farm. It’s bananas. I think people have gotten married there.

Ha, my doctors never respond to me personally through MyChart. It's always some wet behind the ears "Medical Assistant" that should have forwarded my personal questions to the doctor themselves. I've spoken to my doctors about this and they've agreed that the assistants are supposed to let them know when patients have attempted to contact them regarding side effects or follow up concerns.

It depends my grandparents' doctor started using it but his office isn't great about actually answering you on there or updating things quickly.

I liked it until it started fucking up with me. My last cardiologist moved away and they assigned me a new one but I haven't actually had an appointment with him yet and because of that, MyChart won't let me contact him/his office. Really fucking annoying.

[quote] It’s the craziest system I’ve ever seen and was invented by a genius/insane woman in Wisconsin.

I lived in Madison for a time, which had a few crazy entrepreneurs/employers. One was the woman who started American Girl dolls, Pleasant Rowland (as someone used to say about her....."Pleasant? Isn't.")

Epic was the other. Apparently it's very Hotel California - you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave. They want you there 20 hours a week at some times of the year. It's very secretive.....reviews of the company culture, etc get stripped from online as soon as they land there. Judy Faulkner is an odd bird.

Love it! I've been able to schedule spur-of-the-moment virtual appointments with my doctor when she sees my message and realizes it's urgent. Also, CVS has MyChart and they put my vaccine records in it. All hail MyChart!

I love having yet another mediator between myself and communications of value with the people who some day could keep me alive.

Thank God I'm a number and a disembodied set of binary code with everyone.

R6, it sounds like your doctors are lying to you. I doubt the medical assistants would be doing that if your doctor had instructed them not to. They think you are too high maintenance.

It has been great for me in a lot of ways, but my current PCP doesn't understand how to use it correctly, sadly.

[quote]Is anyone else's doctor here using "MyChart" to interface with patients now?

Since 2014. The thing I like most is that your information can be shared not only between doctors/specialists but between health systems.

R14 Mostly good, although I got busted trying to ask my old doctor for a refill (on a non narcotic maintenance med) that my dumb new doctor wouldn't fill because she wanted to change it to something else.

I’ve been using it since 2015. It’s extremely convenient for viewing billing, appointments (past and present), and detailed test results at your leisure from home.

My medical professionals occasionally send me direct messages, but only if it’s extremely important, such as needing to discontinue a critical prescription, but most of the time they don’t allow replies. I usually call when I need to meet with a doctor or PA, just to be sure I’m getting the right type of help.

MyChart is a far cry from the days when a doctor would have to lug a huge manila folder with him containing my medical history in which he would have to rifle through for every little thing.

[R12] Not true, I am instructed after each specialist appointment to keep in contact with doctors via MyChart on medication and symptom changes (chronic illness). That is the only time I have ever used MyChart, otherwise I set up an actual appointment. It's all within the same hospital network, and I've spoken with others within this network who have experienced the same thing. Assistants are supposed to use their discretion on when to answer themselves versus taking up a doctor's time, but they are instructed (at least within this network) to forward all patient updates directly to the doctor, not answer it themselves.

Seeing as these assistants also frequently reply with chatspeak and address me by a totally different name, I can't say I hold out much hope in what information I'm being given.

I’ve been using it since 2018

MyChart's effectiveness depends on the organization that implements it. If they train staff on how to communicate effectively through the portal and educate patients on how to use it, then it usually turns out well. Ever since the pandemic and the staffing crisis, I've noticed significantly more issues with newer staff not understanding Epic and misinforming patients and doctors themselves on what they're doing in patient charts. It's a good system, but like anything, it requires an actual human eye to look over it so things don't get mishandled.

I would be suspect of any doctor that has the time to chat all day with patients on MyChart.

R17, I believe you when you say you are not high maintenance, but I find it much harder to believe that medical assistants are willfully disregarding a doctor’s specific instructions regarding patient care. And in a way that leaves a documentation trail. Your doctor is bullshitting you.

My doctor is from the stone age, so no

My Chart my chart my chart, talking bout My Chart.

I agree that the weakness of MyChart is that you cannot directly contact a doctor you haven's seen before, even though you have an appointment. Other than that, it's wonderful. I especially love getting test results back so quickly. And it's great if you want privacy with your STI results.

[quote] And it's great if you want privacy with your STI results.

Why would it not be private anyway?

I love My Chart. I have actually had my doctor respond to my message several times, but mostly it is one of her PA's. Even so, I give it an A+.

As an aside, I live in Madison and actually worked for EPIC for three years. Judy Faulkner is as smart as a whip, but quite eccentric. And although the facilities are gorgeous, the perks fabulous and the pay extraordinary, work expectations are so demanding that you can go batshit crazy after a while.

It kind of creeps me out. Especially when you see that red exclamation point next to a set of results. It makes me think "Oh fuck. What is it now?"

[quote] I would be suspect of any doctor that has the time to chat all day with patients on MyChart.

I've used MyChart with a few different health systems. My experience is that if it's something they are answering themselves, the doctors are answering messages in the evenings. I felt bad because one would always message me at 11 at night, but I'm guessing that's when they had the time to do it.

The Epic lady looks very M2F

I like getting my blood test results a couple of days before my PCP appointment. It's great for renewing prescriptions, too.

My health system had its own system and they just switched to My Chart. I have no issues with it. Love it.

I’ve been using it for like 15 years. Where do you live that it’s new to you?

I HAVE ANOTHER

I have another dr whose hospital uses FollowMyHealth, which is HORRIBLE.

I’ve used it for at least a decade and no complaints. I have another doctor whose group uses another portal that sucks, I don’t even bother with it.

I love it as well. Stop and think about how rare it is for an app to get as universal praise as this one is here. DL would collectively bitch about winning the lottery.

The MyChart downside: your test results are automatically uploaded and available before your doctor gets to even review them or speak to you. I found out I was in congestive heart failure, from an app, before my doctor told me. :(

That's rough, R36, I hope you're feeling well.

Test results aren't always automatic, my standard blood test results appear to be automated but blood tests to rule out potential health issues & radiology results always have a personal message from my doctor at the top. I think it depends on the doctor.

I’ve had a surgeon raise exactly that concern with me, R36.

She said potentially alarming test results get posted before doctors have a chance to put them in perspective for their patients.

I despise it with the heat of a thousand suns.

I am not able to initiate a message to my doctor, and most communications from her do not have a reply option. Every once in a while they forget to block the ability to reply, and I can squeeze in a message.

Requests for refills are usually answered by a borrowed nurse practitioner, and this creates a sort of a time bomb: the prescription will have the NP's name under 'prescriber' instead of the PCP, and when it's time to renew, the request will be addressed to that NP, who by that point, will no longer be there. So no one responds to it. It requires a storm of phone calls every time, and completely destroys any sense of 'automatic refills.' Currently, my prescriptions for Lisinopril, diabetes test strips, and insulin syringes are on a countdown to insufficiency over this. There's no way to sort out this particular nightmare using MyChart.

I am unable to make a payment on my balance using MyChart; one can only pay the entire balance, or not at all. I have to make my installments in person when I go to the doctor's office.

There is not a single aspect of my healthcare which is made more convenient or efficient by the use of MyChart. But the medical staff continuously push it, and encourage its use.

Seriously, my BP is up, just talking about it.

R37, thanks, but NO! I’m not OK! I have fucking congestive fucking heart failure!

Another Madisonian here. Epic has changed the city in many ways. Exact Sciences (Cologuard) relocated here. Huge apartment buildings keep springing up to house all the Epic kids. I call them kids because Epic pretty openly only hires people in their 20s and 30s, even in their foodservice program, which is top of the line. These kids fly all over the country every week training medical staff on Epic Software, including MyChart. The campus is amazing, by the way. One building is a complete replica of Hogwarts.

I’m being aged out of my career thanks to Epic, my IT department only seems to hire twenty somethings certified in Epic now

But Epic -- the woman -- so quirky and delightful R41! Amy Fowler and Abby Sciuto rolled into one.

[quote]Epic pretty openly only hires people in their 20s and 30s, even in their foodservice program, which is top of the line

OMG, the one thing I’ll never forget about Epic, beyond the castle, besides the 10,000 seat amphitheater with sections named after dragons, beyond all the cool stuff, was the food.

The food was absolutely fucking amazing. It deserves a freakin’ Michelin star! They have some recipes online but they haven’t updated since 2016 and when I went they had totally different things, everything amazing.

R36, a family member was able to reverse CHS with the right medication, exercise and diet. It’s been at least 10 years now. I hope you have a similar outcome.

R41, it sounds like the problem is with the medical group and not the portal itself.

My only problem with it is that I can't find a way to empty out my "trash" which is full of every message that has been generated by me or the system. I looked and looked for a "clean out/empty trash" button to no avail. It has over 300 messages just sitting there.

Thanks, OP. I've learned so much on this thread.

[quote]I find it much harder to believe that medical assistants are willfully disregarding a doctor’s specific instructions regarding patient care

I absolutely believe it. My doctor is forced to take at least a percentage of his vacation every year, so he takes most days in Octobers off, and the doctor who substitutes for him is an absolute piece of shit. Disregards EVERYTHING my doctor has left in instructions. Last year I was supposed to be able to get a round of antibiotics if my sinus infection didn't clear up, and she said she didn't prescribe "the hard drugs like that" without a visit. I told her I'd already had a visit and these were my doctor's instructions. She just refused to respond.

Also, the nurse who does the prescription refills will refuse to refill a med just out of spite, apparently, and I've caught her going in and deleting the conversations we've had about getting a refill. I now have to screen grab them to make sure I have a record of what was said. It's sketchy.

R50 if anyone behaved that way with my info even once, I'd be switching practices, as you should.

Most of our clinics got bought out by a conglomo named Cotton O'Neil, r51. Maybe all of them by this point, but the three big clinics are Cotton O'Neil now. Even if I switched, the same problems would exist, and I wouldn't have my current doctor and nurse who are great.

The problem is doctors never check. So you can send message after message to your doctor and get no response.

I had this experience with my doctor and two specialists.

Finally, I complained to a receptionist who said never send a message to a doctor. Just call to find out what PA or nurse is managing refills or whatever the issue is and send a message to them directly.

God this thread sounds old.

My doctor messages me back and even made me a referral, all on the Epic system. I know it's actually her since English is her second language and I can tell the way she writes.

I go to Ochsner which has stepped up it's patient care big-time.

Is this a portal that coordinates with your doctors? I have some specialists who are affiliated with different hospital systems, so I have separate log in systems for them. My family doctor is very old fashioned—no way of contacting him online, you have to leave a voice message for refills and referrals etc.

[quote] Is this a portal that coordinates with your doctors?

Yes, among other things

A few people mention having trouble using EPIC and some have replied saying that perhaps it’s the organization using the system that may be the issue. I’m inclined to believe it’s the latter in most cases.

I use EPIC for overall healthcare information, including prescriptions, with no major problems, but I manage my refills via CVS Pharmacy. Rarely, if ever, do I have to call my PCP or a PA, or anyone else. CVS’s system prompts me to set up automatic refills, which I do, and they take everything over from there, and unless I need an in-person visit with a doctor to renew a prescription, everything is all set. Before CVS implemented its automated system, getting refills could be a serious hassle and, in some cases, a highly urgent concern.

R48, if you open a message, there is a trash can icon in the upper right. You can delete messages that way. I know it is one at a time, but once you get caught up, it won't be so bad.

a lot has to do with how the organization implemented it, the skill of the analysts that maintain it, and physician adoption of it. Epic is a very complicated system to maintain and if the IT department isn’t up to the task then the users will suffer.

Exactly r60. Our hospital took almost two years to roll it out, train analysts, install and set up servers. Then getting the whole clinical staff of about 5,000 providers to use it?!! Nightmare.

One of these things is not like the other.

Judy can suck my dick. Once she’s dead, or incoherent, EPIC will go public.

The Madison airport walls are covered with ads for competing Electronic Medical Record companies. There were so many I’d never heard of. It was really strange. It’s like the town built on Epic. I went twice and both times the cab drivers asked me if I was in town for Epic training unprompted.

[quote] I went twice and both times the cab drivers asked me if I was in town for Epic training unprompted.

For all its progressiveness, Madison has a lot of that "you ain't from round here, are ya?" kind of energy.

[quote]For all its progressiveness, Madison has a lot of that "you ain't from round here, are ya?" kind of energy

To be fair, I was picked up at the airport with a suitcase and asked to be dropped off at a hotel. All signs that I wasn’t from around there.

But OMG the cab drivers were the most talkative friendly people in the world. Unprompted suggestions for where to eat, what to do, stories about their kids.

At least two of them, r69. I took cabs to Verona but Ubered back to the airport.

I stayed in Verona one trip and was bored out of my mind. Cow fields and gas stations. That was all I saw.

My chart says I'm Pisces and I am cynical and distrust everything, especially around private information.

That's awful, r71. You were about 20 minutes from a Big Ten university with 44,000 students and some cool bars and restaurants.

I did stay in Madison in another trip r73. I stayed in Verona because the one time because it was close to the epic campus and cheaper. Second time I stayed in the city.

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