Dear Louisiana Hospitals – It’s 2024 and Time to Quit Using This

Dear Louisiana Hospitals and Healthcare Providers,

I hope this note finds you and those you care for well. I know you're busy. Apparently, the COVID Louisiana thought we were done with isn't done with us. Fortunately, the latest mutation of the virus isn't nearly as dangerous as the previous versions. By the way, thank you for your incredible work during that stress-filled time. You were, and still are amazing.

The reason for my note today is to check on you. You guys were aware that it is 2024, right? I am sure you are and based on some of the medical equipment that has been used to poke, prod, stick, and evaluate my medical condition over the past six months you guys might actually be living in 2035 or beyond.

But there is one aspect of your services that I can't for the life of me figure out. Why would an industry that believes in cutting-edge technology and innovation be so stubbornly bound to technology that was invented in 1964? You know back when these guys were popular. 

I would hazard to guess that the majority of your nursing staff wasn't around in 1964 when this amazing piece of technology that you all still use was invented. Back then it was what you'd expect from your doctor, cutting-edge technology that leads to better care. But that was 60 years ago, y'all. Times have changed, technology has changed, and your patients and the way they communicate have changed, but you haven't.

Why?

Why is the medical industry so stubbornly tied to using a fax machine? I know from personal experience that Oschner Health Systems, Our Lady of Lourdes, and their associated hospitals, even Baylor Medical in Houston still cling stubbornly to the use of the fax machine when it comes to transmitting patient records.

Most of the people that you serve no longer have access to a fax machine. There is this new thing called e-mail that most of us use. Heck, you guys use it too when you want to confirm an appointment or insurance but if a patient wants an Ochsner doctor in Shreveport to know what an Ochsner doctor in Lafayette had to say about their medical condition that patient will have to go the UPS Store or a Fed-Ex Store and pay to use a fax machine.

I have lived and am currently living this ancient technology drama right now. I have all sorts of images, notes, prescriptions, and other medical information that my health care provider sent to me digitally, as in via e-mail. But I can't send that same information to you via e-mail because...?

The folks I spoke to at a Lafayette, Louisiana hospital said it was because faxes can't be hacked. This would be a stronger argument if, in the same breath, she hadn't told me that she would send the results of my labs to my phone via digital means.

I am sure there is a reason why technology from 1964 is slowing down the healthcare policies of 2024, can you tell me what it is? I just want to understand why I have to bring my sensitive medical information to a former Kinko's to let some stranger ogle over the pages as he faxes them to your office to protect my privacy.

Please don't take this inquiry the wrong way. I appreciate the amazing healthcare that is available to me and all of us in Louisiana. I am grateful for your professionalism, kindness, and knowledge. I just don't get the fax machine.

Sincerely,

Everyone who doesn't have a fax machine but still needs input from Healthcare providers.