What the fax? A tale of modern healthcare experience in an antiquated system

The race to interoperability in 2021 was paved with good intentions and marginal results.

Complex and disparate systems all implementing their own versions of technology to meet federal standards for health information sharing was never going go very well. For organizations, meeting the spirit of access and ease while integrating into existing technology infrastructure and operational processes produced a tough set of business requirements.

Consequently, consumer expectations of the end result were largely met with clunky, hard to navigate portals and widely varied uptake by the different players in the healthcare ecosystem. 

I both understand and value the need for organizations to have a single, unified view of each individual, regardless of where each aspect of care and support is coming from. Because of my background, I also understand the complexity of making this happen. This has provided me with a measure of patience as a consumer.  Until Monday.

As I sat with my 80 year old mother in the Emergency Department, she attempted to recount a particular visit and test result with a doctor not affiliated with the system. The attending gave us homework to complete before the specialist rounded: get the result via phone. Do not accept anything less than a verbal answer. He said “we can’t wait for the end of the day to check the one of 20 fax machines in the ED to see if by a miracle they got to it and have the information we need to make an informed decision on next steps.”

Yep, I said fax machine. Apparently, that is still a thing.

I spent almost 30 minutes on the phone with the doctor’s office in question, most of it on hold, some of it arguing about why they could not just tell us the test result over the phone.  I lost that argument.

The ED nurse and I scrambled to find a fax machine close to my mom’s room that we could provide to the office and then monitor.  We waited five hours. The specialist came and went.  At the end of the day, as she was being admitted to the hospital, the nurse came in with a 14 page fax. The one word answer was on the last page.

My mom felt helpless and anxious. She was mad at herself for not asking more questions at the doctor’s office and bringing their official records with her to the ED. Despite the fact that we had a detailed timeline of events and visits, medicines taken and treatments applied, we were missing a crucial piece of the puzzle. 

Interoperability and Health Information Exchange is supposed to solve for this. Instead, it has checked a box and languishes on a shelf with 10 other competing demands.

If we want to produce better health outcomes for humans, we must do better. If we want those humans to loyally choose our insurance plan, or our hospital, or our provider, we must do better.

If we want to sustain our organizations, maintain competitiveness, and retain jobs in healthcare, we must do better.

Consumer experience, patient experience, human experience whatever your preference – isn’t a buzzword. It is a call to action on every facet of how we do the business of healthcare today.

Ashley Conger

This article was originally shared on LinkedIn.

Ashley Conger works with health plans and healthcare organizations to improve consumer experiences and engagement. Read Ashley’s full bio here.