Almost all our doctors are part of Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. JHCP uses the Epic electronic medical record software, as do many other medical organizations. I still remember when they implemented it, and they had to scan a huge backlog of paper files. That was at least a decade ago.
Because of Epic, all the doctors have access to your medical records, and to test results usually within 48 hours of when the lab takes the blood and urine samples. There is of course an app, called MyChart. Sometimes Epic can be a lot of data entry (mostly handled by nurses) and I imagine it would be cumbersome in a triage situation, but the sharing of information this way is a godsend to doctors, nurses, and patients.
Several days ago I got a text via Epic from JHCP informing me I was eligible to get on the waiting list for the vaccine and asking me to click a button if I wanted to sign up. So of course I did. Within two days I got another text saying I was eligible to schedule an appointment, and asking me which of three locations I preferred. I selected one and picked a time on one of two days that were available. Shortly afterwards my wife got the eligibility notification and repeated this whole process.
My appointment was today, mid afternoon. Hers was next Wednesday. When I arrived I went through registration, where I had to present my ID and insurance card, I was then directed to the vaccination clinic. At that point I asked if there was any way they could sneak my wife in, as she was waiting in the car and was scheduled for Wednesday. The nurse said, no, they only have a certain number of doses. I said, oh well, had to try and we both smiled.
I had not gone ten steps when the nurse said, we just had a cancellation, is your wife here? I said, yes, she’s in the car. The nurse said, call her, what’s her name? They looked up her name and rescheduled her from Wednesday to the appointment that someone had just cancelled. I got my vaccination (Pfizer) and was in the post vaccination waiting period (15 mins in case of anaphylaxis) when she walked in. She got her shot almost right away and then we were waiting together.
While we were waiting, the nurses said, have you made your follow up appointment yet? They were directing people to use MyChart to make the next appointment, which was already set up in the app, you just had to pick the day and time from the options available. And then we were done. We walked out, didn’t have to pay a thing.
We are very fortunate that we live in Maryland and have access to JHCP, and work for a company that provides good health insurance (through Aetna). I fully recognize the privilege this confers. What I want, what would make me so happy, is if everyone, EVERYONE, could have this kind of experience—an experience I gather not too dissimilar from that of patients in most European countries. This is the world I want for all of us to live in, this is the future we can build for all of us to inhabit, if we choose to make it happen.
