Patients interpreting their own portal results

[u/Princessgargoyle]

Attending physician new to practicing in a more affluent area. How are you all dealing with patients asking for explanations for each out-of-range lab result that popped up in their patient portal?

I’m finding this aspect of my new site to be very frustrating and time consuming to have to convince the patient why the google interpretation of their isolated eosinophilia or glucose of 100 does not align with my “Great news! Everything looks good!”

[u/LoveDogsTx]

Refer to pcp and explain that there is no life threat presented at this time. You are an ED doc. Not a general physician. I think most people are confused as to what the “emergency” room is for. Diagnostic tests for immediate emergent life threatening conditions, with or without presentation is what is looked for

They need to have a clear understanding it is not your job to interpret their condition (unless it is emergent) 🤷🏻‍♂️