Day 293--Limitless Paper in a Paperless World
Last Friday, I saw a new doctor, in Elmhurst, for the first time. There's obviously no reason for me to continue driving back and forth for appointments, especially when everything is going so well. The appointment went well--I think the new guy seems knowledgeable, and responsive. At the end of the appointment, he wrote out an order for a blood test, just to get baseline numbers for me, like many doctors would with new patients. I assume it involved a cholesterol test, since I had to fast for 12 hours before the test.
Tuesday morning, I went in to the lab, and told them I was there for a blood test. The woman at the registration desk asked, "Do you have the work order?"
Me: "No, I think it's at home. I was hoping you had it here"
"Oh, we probably don't have it."
Me: "You mean, I need the piece of paper? It's not in the computer."
"No. "
It was at this point that I realized they had no record of the doctor ordering the test. Now, this wasn't a case of the doctor being from a different hospital or clinic. The doctor I saw was on the 2nd floor--the lab is in the basement.
Apparently, I had gotten spoiled by the hospital in Urbana. At Carle, when the doctor ordered a blood test, it went into a computer and you just showed up at the lab. But here, in the big city, my hospital runs on paper. It's like getting a blood test in 2003.
My question, then: is this normal? Do patients typically have to hold on to pieces of paper for several days like this? Is this a privacy issue? Or is this clinic just relatively antiquated? I still have the piece of paper, so I'll do the test again tomorrow. I hadn't taken it with me, because a) I assumed I wouldn't need it, and b) I forgot.
Tuesday morning, I went in to the lab, and told them I was there for a blood test. The woman at the registration desk asked, "Do you have the work order?"
Me: "No, I think it's at home. I was hoping you had it here"
"Oh, we probably don't have it."
Me: "You mean, I need the piece of paper? It's not in the computer."
"No. "
It was at this point that I realized they had no record of the doctor ordering the test. Now, this wasn't a case of the doctor being from a different hospital or clinic. The doctor I saw was on the 2nd floor--the lab is in the basement.
Apparently, I had gotten spoiled by the hospital in Urbana. At Carle, when the doctor ordered a blood test, it went into a computer and you just showed up at the lab. But here, in the big city, my hospital runs on paper. It's like getting a blood test in 2003.
My question, then: is this normal? Do patients typically have to hold on to pieces of paper for several days like this? Is this a privacy issue? Or is this clinic just relatively antiquated? I still have the piece of paper, so I'll do the test again tomorrow. I hadn't taken it with me, because a) I assumed I wouldn't need it, and b) I forgot.