[hdkrgr]

To be fair: As a patient, except for them scanning my insurance card, I see very little evidence that would suggest that most of data exchange isn't being done via fax, snail-mail, or people talking into phones.

Why in the world do I get a piece of paper from my doctor that I'm supposed to mail to my insurance provider (or scan and upload if you're lucky) when I'm being diagnosed with something?

Doctor's offices are the least digitized businesses around.

There's first signs of this getting better, but I can't wait for things to change...

[TMWNN]

>Why in the world do I get a piece of paper from my doctor that I'm supposed to mail to my insurance provider (or scan and upload if you're lucky) when I'm being diagnosed with something?

>Doctor's offices are the least digitized businesses around.

Oh? Here in the US I can't remember the last time I had to take a prescription on paper from a doctor. Whether CVS, Walgreens, or Amazon PillPack, when my doctor prescribes medication, the pharmacy receives it very quickly, sometimes within minutes. Same with lab work; whether my health system's own labs or a third party like LabCorp or Quest, it's all electronic.

(The process is not all electronic. When a prescription expires, if I request that the pharmacy renews it (as opposed to requesting a renewal from the prescribing doctor), I believe the pharmacy calls the doctor. But either way, I don't otherwise get involved other than, in both cases, requesting it via a website.)

[germanier]

The current plan is to get rid of that piece of paper by the same time next year.