Pluggers by Rick McKee for July 10, 2020

They’re all computerized these days! They could fit on a memory stick.

Looks like a typo. There’s an is instead of if.

The Doc’s a plugger who hasn’t updated to digital records.

A thin plugger? That poor guy is clearly ill!

My family (primary care provider?) carries my huge file into the exam room, obviously rejecting digital record keeping. However, all the specialists that I see walk in with a laptop and spend the next 10 minutes bringing up my records while I sit twiddling my thumbs.

I have doctors who wonder why I question them when they look at my records and still get my name wrong. The wealthcare system they work for now allows an entire 10 minutes per visit. They constantly mess up everything in my records and the clerical staff is in revolving doors. They’re a "not for profit* (NEVER to be confused with a non-profit). Wanna guess why I double and triple check every single thing? And yes, it really is that bad but it’s just about the only game in town unless you want to spend about $20k/year more. Corporate medicine and wealthcare insurance companies.

Just think of the pile of paperwork the Lord has to carry on each one of us !

I have been a patient of my cardiologist dating back prior to the internet. When last weighed, my paper file in the office was 32 pounds, including ultrasound, x-ray and fluoroscopy images. And he still charts on paper.

is??????

My various providers use tablets but still spend several minutes of my appointment time reviewing my history. A short visit soon becomes a long visit and more money. Glad I’m on Medicare now with a good supplemental.

One good vote for computes-save trees!

It’s when he looks at your file and Goes “Oh boy”.

“if” not “is”

My dad passed away when I was in 6th grade, of a long-term illness. The next year, when I went to the Naval Hospital for a school physical, they couldn’t find my records. Eventually, they tracked down that mine had been sent to the terminal archive instead of his. Now my folder was brown, as befitting a dependent, his was red, since his illness began while he was still on active duty. Mine had 3-5 sheets of paper in it, his was an inch or two thick, complete with stacks of x-rays. We had the same first name, but different middle names. Best we could guess is that mine got sent because it would require less postage…

Thank goodness for computers. With 30+ doctors, I would pity the poor office staff.

Can’t believe I’m the first to say something about the typo! :-)

You know your doctor’s a plunger if he’s still using paper charts.

His records should be in a small, roll-around file cabinet.

is = if

30 years USN and my Medical Record was only about an inch thick, Oh to young again.

Even with computers, there are times when paper records are necessary. Different programs don’t cooperate with each other, information isn’t on the patient’s portal, etc. Thank goodness for paper when computers go down, something mysteriously disappears, etc. Computers are certainly not without problems.