I use the Updox portal to send patients lab orders that they can print when needed, usually the week before their appointment. Eliminates the :"lost lab order" phone calls. Also post lab results and other reports if the patient requests them, usually after we have discussed them in the office.
I have a patient coming into the office tomorrow who had his lab done. Sent him a message today along with the labs that we will be discussing his increased A1c, his increased creatinine and his decreased eGFR. That helps to take away the "surprise" factor so we can address what needs to be addressed. Have already received a "Message read" report. I save all of these "Message read" reports to the chart for documentation purposes also, in case a patient conveniently says he did not know about that result. Of course anything urgent or a message not read in an appropriate time frame (this can be picked at the time of sending the message) necessitates a phone call.
Liked the desktop version better than the online version but have gotten used to it now. Patients also use it to send vaccine reports and other documents that they want us to have. One of the main complaints is that in the desktop version when you sent a document it was automatically attached. In the online version when you send a document that you have already attached to the message you have to click another box that says "attachments". I believe someone here references "Needless clicks". Sometime the patient will reply that the document was not attached.
Definitely do not want patients scheduling themselves. What a disaster.
