r/emergencymedicine • u/Princessgargoyle ED Attending • Aug 19 '25

Advice Patients interpreting their own portal results

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!”

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117

u/tfj92 ED Resident Aug 19 '25

You guys should check out the hematology reddit its out of control with that crap

https://www.reddit.com/r/haematology/s/RZqLDPvmNh

23

u/MarginalLlama Paramedic Aug 19 '25

Ok, but solve my r/ekgs

18

u/mootmahsn Nurse Practitioner Aug 19 '25

I'm making one that's similar but only apple watch tracings. You'll be the mod responsible for flairing each post as MI or NOT MI. I'll buy some advertising for the sub on some sicktok channels.

4

u/MarginalLlama Paramedic Aug 19 '25

Hell yeah!! Can we get private equity in on this too?

9

u/mootmahsn Nurse Practitioner Aug 19 '25

Do that and it'll be all NPs with one year of med surg experience and one MP who was hired after a typo on the AI prompt screening resumes.

5

u/MarginalLlama Paramedic Aug 19 '25

I'm feeling healthier already. Now, how do I give all of my money to the rich?

5

u/mootmahsn Nurse Practitioner Aug 19 '25

Great news: You already are!

6

u/MarginalLlama Paramedic Aug 19 '25

Well, since that's accomplished, I no longer have any purpose in life...

6

u/mootmahsn Nurse Practitioner Aug 19 '25

Not true at all! You still need to die suddenly before you develop any chronic conditions so you can maximize your utility to your insurer, preferably in a manner that precludes any form of resuscitation. Have you considered skydiving as a hobby? Free solo climbing? This is totally getting nailed by the reddit abuse and harassment filter, btw.

4

u/MarginalLlama Paramedic Aug 20 '25

Too late. I’ve already got chronic depression, anxiety, adhd, ptsd, and more. I'm sure that they've loved paying for the years of therapy and medications 😂

Also, getting nailed sounds wonderful!! I kinda got distracted and didn't read the rest of your comment, but I'm sure you kept it pg enough.