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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 02:52 PM
Original message
Am I being paranoid, or would this bother you too...?
Just tried a new physician. Decent doc, pretty thorough for a first visit--but they use computers for charting. For some reason that really bugs me and turns me off... (I don't know, that whole privacy issue again :eyes:)...

Anyway, would you be disturbed by this? Should I be...?

:hi:

Couldn't find my little tin foil hat smilie, so I'll just wave.
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Debi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 02:56 PM
Response to Original message
1. Do you use a computer for anything private?
On-line banking? Bill paying?

What's to have someone take your paper chart and read it?

Computer charting is no worse than paper charting, especially if it's only used internally.

Oh, here's your hat...:tinfoilhat:
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:03 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. Ah--there he is! Thank YOU!
You know, I really should know that. I went through a program for medical/dental assisting a while back. We did talk about computer charting--at the time, no one was really using it though.

And yep, I do some personal stuff on my computer. :dunce:

Thank you for the reality check.

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Debi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:06 PM
Response to Reply #3
7. so, I probably shouldn't mention the millions of SS#s and personal
info that MBNA just lost huh?
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:08 PM
Response to Reply #7
9. LOL!
I remember hearing about that--

What can you say? Unfortunately, it happens... :shrug:

I just hate committing to a doctor--my own weird little issue to work through...

My dh loves the office, doctor, etc.
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rustydog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:01 PM
Response to Original message
2. Most if not all hospitals now have medical charting on-line
Most that I know are intra-nets. They have been hacked in the past.
almost all medical information is accessed by computer now days.
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:06 PM
Response to Reply #2
8. Ok--I'm paranoid.
(lol)

That or I am just avoiding the inevitable. Either way, I'll get over it.

:hi:
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Sanity Claws Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:59 PM
Response to Reply #2
23. Some places actually outsource charting
I live in Seattle and I know of one clinic that outsourced it to India, leaving medical transcribers (independent contractors) without work.
Don't ask me how the outsourcing is done.
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KitchenWitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:03 PM
Response to Original message
4. Computerized charting seems to be the standard operating procedure here
I only know of a couple of doctors that my family sees that do not use computers anymore.
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:05 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. Wow--
Most of mine still do the paper chart thing. My allergist says she knows it would be more efficient, but she is pretty small, and fears the repurcussions when computers have their inevitable issues.

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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:42 PM
Response to Reply #4
18. I'll show you my chart....
If you show me yours.....
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KitchenWitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:43 PM
Response to Reply #18
19. Pervert!
:rofl:
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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:52 PM
Response to Reply #19
21. tough job....
But somebody has to do it.....
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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:06 PM
Response to Original message
6. I am glad they use computer charting...
Believe you me, I was n hospital for over 35 days lst summer and it cut down the bullshit questions that they all ask when they come in to see you.....

It also made dispensing of drugs, pain meds, faster and more efficient....

I am a big fan of the computer charting....

When I was in for extended time back in 1998, the endless round of questioning got tedious.....

BElieve you me, it will stram line the process and I believe when it is all said and done, it will help bring down the costs.....
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:11 PM
Response to Reply #6
12. These are great points...
Thank you, WCGreen!

It's important for me to look at the other side of things like this, and not just stay in my little box.

I know what you mean about streamlining--I had surgery in June. To have four different people in succession, ask the EXACT same questions, again and again, when you are already nervous, scared, etc... NO fun! LOL! In that case, a computer may have helped a great deal.

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RagingInMiami Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:09 PM
Response to Original message
10. Just be sure the computer is not owned by Diebold
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:12 PM
Response to Reply #10
13. LMAO!
:rofl:

Hey you! How are you? :hi:
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RagingInMiami Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 08:12 PM
Response to Reply #13
33. I'm doing cool
Just looking forward to DC this weekend where I will meet a bunch of DUers.
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CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:10 PM
Response to Original message
11. I am all in favor of it..
For me, as a nurse, the first thing is LEGIBILITY.....

There's NO problem about reading doctor's orders, lists of medications and treatments, and that sort of thing....

True, there are security issues, but these can/must/will be handled as they should be...

Just my two cents worth...FWIW....
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:18 PM
Response to Reply #11
14. I didn't know you were a nurse--
I have a GREAT deal of respect and admiration for nurses!! One of my favorite aunts was a nurse--I even considered it as a career for a while...

Dh's cousin is a nurse--she kind of talked me out of it. :evilgrin:

I wanted to write a piece for a local mag. on the CA Nurse's Assoc. Fight w/the Governator and the magazine scrapped it :cry: (Because they didn't want to offend their advertisers :eyes:)

Having worked (very briefly)in healthcare, I know what you mean about legibiility. Do they teach doctors to write that way in med school? Dentists do it, too! :rofl:
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CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:27 PM
Response to Reply #14
15. Yes, I am an RN...but retired early, this last April...thank god.....
Doctors' handwriting is legendary for being illegible......

Once I was getting ready to transcribe some doctor's orders...a whole THREE pages worth...and I could NOT read them...

Luckily the doctor was still there; so I showed them to him; he could not read them either...

He had to re-write the whole mess legibly, and he did...

Where in California are you? I'm in SoCal...
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:31 PM
Response to Reply #15
16. Me too...
Edited on Mon Sep-19-05 03:33 PM by bliss_eternal
If I had left my info intact, you'd see I'm very close to where you are (torrance). I didn't know there were Dems in Manhattan Beach! :hi:

on edit--p.s. good for you for retiring! Our teachers and nurses are retiring in droves, wonder why? :eyes:
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CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:35 PM
Response to Reply #16
17. My God, Torrance!
You are practically in my back yard!

And my dear, there are BUNCHES of Democrats in Manhattan Beach!

I'll PM you in a moment......
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #17
26. Hey Peggy--
I was off-line for a little bit, just signed back on and saw this. Crazy how close we are in proximity isn't it...

Going to check my pm's...
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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:43 PM
Response to Reply #11
20. Very good poit CP....
The legibility thing causes a number of deaths every year.....
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CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 03:57 PM
Response to Reply #20
22. Ugh, I didn't know that, my dear WC......
There is NO excuse for that, IMHO.....

That makes it all the more imperative that we get to the computer for this than ever...

I mean, would you want to die because some MD couldn't write,and the unlucky person reading the order didn't question it, and get it fixed?

Me neither.....Not by a long shot....
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 05:11 PM
Response to Reply #20
27. Yikes! I didn't know this either!!!
:wow:

But now that you mention it, I can see how that may happen. Seriously, some of the doctors seem to go out of their way to write secret, undecipherable code. It seems like some rite of passage--they become a doctor--whooops! There goes the penmanship!

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China_cat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 04:30 PM
Response to Original message
24. I thought my doctor records were safe
on his computer.

Then I had to take my grandson to the emergency room because we thought his arm might be broken. New hospital. Only open less than 6 months and I had never been there.

They asked who'd be responsible for the bill and I said I would. They needed SS# and when I gave it to them, it brought up my full medical record. The receptionist even asked me some questions about how I was doing after my last problems.

I was floored.
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wildhorses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 04:34 PM
Response to Original message
25. the hospital
where I work is going totally computer, they are called cows for short....Computers On Wheels
My own doc carries a laptop with him...
Remember there is a reason that they call it a PRACTICE
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KoKo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 05:14 PM
Response to Original message
28. Yes...and it's driving me crazy. My dentist used it and caused a disaster
in my mouth. Not all Medical Folks are computer savy enough and their offices might be clueless about glitches.

I fear for my life now with doctors who are over 35 years old that they really are on top of this Computer stuff in their office.

:scared:
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 06:49 PM
Response to Reply #28
31. I'm very sorry to hear he caused a disaster...
that sounds so scary!

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KoKo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 05:18 PM
Response to Original message
29. Also...some of the Doc's can't read the computer charts..it's a Health
Issue NOT just Privacy. They get your chart up and maybe the office staff made a mistake in transfer and they are looking at teeth and innards of another patient while you are trying to talk to them about your condition.

I'm telling you ...it happened to me with a dentist...I think we are at a "transition point" in medical care. Maybe go with an "old fart" who uses "paper charts" or a young 35 and Under who understand technology.

In Medical folks, though HOW would one as a patient figure out which is which? And have TRUST? :scared:
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 06:48 PM
Response to Reply #29
30. I know what you mean--
In such cases, it is a cause for concern. Some docs are stuck in their ways,or don't have a huge grasp of technology. That WOULD be scary!

We only have one doctor that is embracing the new technology--most still have their charts, some young, some older.

I don't know if it's an age thing, as much as exposure to and/or familiarity with technology. Some (young, old and everything in between) just don't like ANYTHING different, and are tech phobic. I think I can see how it is intimidating for some...
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Jamastiene Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-19-05 06:53 PM
Response to Original message
32. Tin Foil Hat...
Edited on Mon Sep-19-05 06:53 PM by Jamastiene
Just type ":tin foil hat:" without any spaces and it should come up right for ya.

That's pretty standard nowadays. And yes, it's a tin foil hat moment when you realize that doctors you've never met will be billing you because they walked past your room and saw your name on the paper charts they still use...Happened to me after gall bladder surgery. I'm paying doctors whose names I've never even heard of, but they insist their services were used during the surgery. I was out cold. I don't remember them. I hope I had a good time with them at least, cause they are some expensive ass ho's...
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