Where has bbhero been lately? I haven't seen him on here in a while.
Medical Test Results
- Thread starter Zee09
- Start date
Due to some liver cysts when I was 49, I was sent to a gastroenterologist. He sent me to have a colonoscopy at a facility where he had a financial interest. My insurance said that they wouldn't cover the colonoscopy since I was under 50 and there was no reason to do one based on my medical history. I think insurance pre-approvals do stop some unnecessary medical procedures or at least keep doctors honest about what they recommend. My urologist that I see for kidney stones, sends me for urine cytology every year. He wanted to a cystoscopy because there were some microscopic red blood cells in my urine. My urogram came out negative but he still wanted to do a cystoscopy himself. Thankfully, that was negative and painless.
You sound like a great doctor. What does your practice focus on?
Hipaa also restricts what you can legally leave out on the air like that
For things like cancer, it doesn’t work that way.
And they don’t tell you over the phone, either.
I see you're in Canada. In the 1980s here in the US there was some stink about doctors having financial interests in certain lab facilities, because they would refer their patients to those facilities for tests and make money from the lab bills. You don't hear much about that today.
I was a Mechanical Engineer in my first life. I studied medicine in my mid-twenties and was a GP for a decade, then became a Specialist in Occupational Medicine.
Engineering is quite a good preparation for medicine, and especially for occupational medicine.
I'm now retired and one of a big crew working on the restoration of a WWII Lancaster.
PS Doing a cystoscopy for persistant microscopic hematuria is quite reasonable. You'd really hate to miss a treatable bladder cancer.
I respectfully beg to differ. This past November my father's pain management doctor called to inform me my father had cancer in his hip, spine, and kidney. This was the first time he saw my father. He didn't want to waste any time, and called me as soon as he had the CT scan results. My father passed three months later.
Most of my test results are in the patient portal my doctor provides for his patients.
My thoughts exactly. I guess the way they do it is in such a way that it narrowly escapes this.
He gave me an example:
Patient has a condition, needs surgery, surgery is the only thing that will fix it based on symptoms, X-rays, etc.
Insurance won't allow surgery, they must first do a series of therapies, which usually don't work. Once they don't work, patient has to go through more tests suggesting the therapy isn't working, and that surgery is needed. This is all while the patient is getting worse. By the time the surgery actually happens, the problem is usually way worse than it was at the beginning. This process can take months, and that's if the patient is persistent and schedules appointments ASAP. Having worked in insurance, I know it's so they can try to save money on claims, but I don't see how it benefits them, since they still have to pay for tests and therapy that often isn't necessary. It's similar to you getting into a car accident, your body shop tells you that you need a new bumper, but the insurance makes your car sit in a lot somewhere while they send out 5 different appraisers over the course of 3 months to tell you that yes, in fact, you do need a new bumper.
It's maddening.
Yes, usually they will give you information about cancer results in an office, my mother's doctor told her this afterward, but given the unprofessionalism displayed by the entire staff, it wasn't surprising she found out in a matter of fact manner over the phone.
The process taught me that you really have to be your own advocate for your health and proactively look into potential issues. It's hard to find a good doctor these days for multiple reasons, and you'll know the good ones because they are booking out months in advance.
Zee, Agree with all of your points. I have a friend who is a family practitioner D.O. No I do not go to him. He currently has interns in his practice. He meets with all of them individually to go over their patient charts. He recently commented to me that he had several who had not called back patients regarding completed test results ....colonoscapys , blood tests, liver function etc. He asked them why...and said none had a good answer. He then told me got visibly upset with each of them during their reprimand. He told them that each of them needed to put themselves in the patient's shoes. I guess the moral of the story is that in every profession no matter what it is, you have some people who just will or cannot perform to the expected professions standards.
Another saying I recently heard when out at my general aviation airport. "There are mechanics who have their A and P licenses who probably shouldn't, and mechanic helpers who probably should have their licenses."
Another saying I recently heard when out at my general aviation airport. "There are mechanics who have their A and P licenses who probably shouldn't, and mechanic helpers who probably should have their licenses."
Love my heath care network portal. Our network is huge, actually we have two huge competing ones that also cooperate using the same portal provider so if I choose too I can combine them but its rare I see the other network so I advent bothered yet..
Every physical, every time I see a doctor, every blood test and every after visit doctors note added to my record I see those notes instantly and the test results as soon as the lab enters them into the system I get an email that the results are available in my portal.
I actually see the results before my doctor gets to review them.
Another cool thing is all my doctors can see all the notes and tests from other doctors (specialists ect), just as I can.
Every physical, every time I see a doctor, every blood test and every after visit doctors note added to my record I see those notes instantly and the test results as soon as the lab enters them into the system I get an email that the results are available in my portal.
I actually see the results before my doctor gets to review them.
Another cool thing is all my doctors can see all the notes and tests from other doctors (specialists ect), just as I can.
They have to get permission from the patient in writing on who gets information. Medical records are private. Answering machines? They better not be saying anything in the medical record into one. This has been my experience, maybe the doctor could answer. I thought this was common knowledge.
Shel_B
Site Donor 2023
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Depends on your system, provider, and preferences ... for me, I can have it set to my preferences, often use video visits with my doctor, we do a lot of email messaging. My test results come with attached details and explanations, and I can set up an appointment in several formats if I want/need more info. I prefer a video visit, but if my docs want to see me, or I them, it's simple to arrange.
Records from different hospitals and systems are accessible by all. I can get a second opinion at the push of a button. If it sounds a bit mechanical or impersonal, it's not. If someone wants to do things face-to-face with doctors, it's doable.
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
I have received several skin cancer
phone calls about biopsies that were positive.. Yes I get it but they can kill you too.
I got another test result tonight at 7:30 via a phone call and that was shocking since the office closes at 5pm but it was a good call.
I see my lab results online as soon as they are complete.
This is one thing that strokes my fur backwards. Last year I decided to have a colonoscopy because I turned the big 50. The gastro that I initially went to was this way, very manic and in a hurry. He would ask a question and if I managed to get one or two words out, he interrupted me and started talking again. The visit was very short and I walked out wondering what just happened?
I went to a different doctor and he was very professional, when he asked a question, he listened. The difference between the two visits was night and day. A good doctor and they’re staff have a way of keeping your stress levels down in those situations as well.
I hope that everything turns out well for you.
I had to go to the ER today. Very good experience. I've been having some sharp pain in my calf for the past couple of days. Sitting and there's no pain. Standing up there's pain but it reduces a lot if I walk. Poking the area causes intense pain. Figured it might be a blood clot and I should get it looked at. Call my doctor this morning find that he is on vacation starting today until the 18th or so. His office recommended I go to urgent care. The urgent care waiting room was empty so I thought I got lucky. Nope. They told everyone how had upper respiratory symptoms to go wait in their cars until called. A lot of people were waiting in their cars. Since I wasn't contagious, I got to stay in the waiting room. I was extra nice to the receptionist who pretty much runs the place and she bumped me ahead of the car folks and got me in to see a doctor after 30 minutes. The doctor wasn't sure it was a blood clot but said it needed to be scanned to be sure and they can't do ultrasound scans at the urgent care. She called the local ER and sent me on my way there.
The ER waiting room was empty and they took me in right away. Within two hours I had my leg ultrasounded, diagnosed with a blood clot, blood work and pulled and results provided, and received a Rx for Eliquis. I assumed this would be like a two week treatment on the blood thinners but they said it could take 3 to 6 months on the blood thinners. It's not a DVT, it's in a vein closer to the surface.
The ER waiting room was empty and they took me in right away. Within two hours I had my leg ultrasounded, diagnosed with a blood clot, blood work and pulled and results provided, and received a Rx for Eliquis. I assumed this would be like a two week treatment on the blood thinners but they said it could take 3 to 6 months on the blood thinners. It's not a DVT, it's in a vein closer to the surface.
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