Since the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act (April 2021), most test results are posted on patient portals as soon as they are done. Great, eh? No more nail-biting days or weeks of waiting and worrying until a doctor visit.
Sadly, the change replaced one set of problems with another. The risks of seeing test results before talking with your physicians include…
Learning of a frightening diagnosis without any explanation or plan of action.
Misinterpreting the results as bad news when, in fact, the findings are good news.
Thinking you have a new problem when you don’t.
Feeling annoyed, angry, or neglected because nobody from your doctor’s office contacted you yet about abnormal results.
Erroneously concluding all is well and then feeling shocked at a follow-up visit by news of a problem. Or, worse, concluding you can delay or cancel a needed follow-up.
In April, Kentucky passed the Compassionate Care House Bill 529 that “requires test results regarding malignancy and genetic markers be delayed for 72 hours before they are released to the patient, unless the provider would want to release the result(s) sooner.” This way, physicians have time to contact patients and break news compassionately. They can provide accurate interpretations that also help patients manage the news and find hope.
What’s a Healthy Survivor to do? In the pursuit of getting good care and living as fully as possible, should you look at your test results? In my next post, I’ll offer some ideas about managing portal test results.
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