JasonCable.com

Oh! how I hate a monopoly.  While I do enjoy playing the board game of the same name, a monopoly to me usually spells trouble, especially when it is a profitable one.  Companies such as Apple and Sirius XM I feel are in our best interest while evil monopolies like Microsoft and Verizon are just that.  The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in Pittsburgh is a company that I somehow now trust.  

In the last few months there have been a few hiccups in the system but the technical solutions they are implementing are wonderful for information sharing within the system.  Using products from Epic Systems and others, my growing number of doctors have been able to share reports, blood test results, MRI and CT results, and my current physical status.  This has greatly shortened the amount of time it takes to get test results back and probably saves on the cost of treatment.  While data entry into the system is close to terrible, the information sharing makes it a good solution.

I like having my health care data stored electronically, but do not like the fact that I do not have ready access to it nor does my one non-UPMC physician and my dentist.  I wish those few things would change but it is very likely thanks to healthcare privacy rights advocates.  Personally from what I’ve read, HIPAA allows more people access to my private healthcare information, not less.

One last word, my whole UPMC experience has not been a bed of roses, but overall it has served me well.  Of course, if I decide to have surgery for my trigeminal neuralgia I will go to the foremost expert and former chair of UPMC’s Department of Neurology who just happens to now be stationed across town at a non-UPMC hospital, Allegheny General Hospital.

Tags:   allegheny general hospital · healthcare privacy · monopolies · Pittsburgh · trigeminal neuralgia · university of pittsburgh medical center · UPMC1 Comment