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patient, there will be a screen that shows
me immediately all of the important things
I need to know. There will be information
that comes to us directly from the patient’s
pharmacy about prescriptions the patient
is filling. Often, patients were prescribed
a medication from an emergency room or
specialist and don’t remember the name of
it, or for whatever reason they haven’t been
refilling their prescription. Now we will have
that information. We will also be able to
see what allergies they have, and what tests
they might need for their preventive health.
In the current system it can take time to
figure out, as an example, if a woman needs
a mammogram. In the new system, we will
have that information in front of us when
we see the patient, even if the visit was for
another purpose.
How will this change the experience for the
patient in the doctor’s office? Is there any
concern that it will get in the way of the ability
of patients to converse with their physician?
Some patients have asked whether this means
their doctor will be looking at the computer
screen instead of at them. We are adamant
about making sure this preserves the time we
spend with the patient. The medical-records
system we are using gives doctors maximum
flexibility to be able to record the visit in such
a way that we’re not constantly typing into
the computer. We are also re-engineering
our offices so that the computer keyboard
and screen are placed in such a way that we
can easily talk to patients while entering the
information, analogous to how we have held
a chart to make notes in the past. And it
will be set up so that we can easily show the
patient something on the computer screen,
such as an X-ray or laboratory test.
How will MyUCLAHealth make things more
convenient for patients?
Once it’s fully implemented over the next
one-to-two years, patients will be able
to electronically contact their doctor’s
office to make appointments, inquire
about referrals, and ask questions about a
medication side effect or other non-urgent
matters. MyUCLAHealth can also be used
by the doctor’s office to send information
about routine laboratory tests. All of these
communications will be secure — the only
people who will see them are the people
directly involved in the patient’s care. We
are stressing that MyUCLAHealth is only
for nonurgent matters. If there is a life-
threatening emergency, patients still need
to call 9-1-1, and they still should call the
doctor’s office with other urgent problems.
Vital Signs Winter 2013 Vol. 57
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