Imagine if you will, being told, six months after diagnosis, that you have cancer. This is not the Twilight Zone this is life today. Life today where hackers deny patients access to their line of communication to their doctor, clinic, lab, and information affecting their health and well-being.
Even after the damage has been repaired and computer systems back on line with patients being still locked out of their accounts. So, six months later when you return to your primary doctor and he askes about your referral to a urologist you are dumbfounded. You know nothing about it. What urologist? Why do I need to see a urologist? “Your PSA was elevated and there’s a nodule on your prostate. Didn’t you read my referral in MyChart?”
“MyChart is a secure online tool that allows you to manage your health information, communicate with your healthcare team, view test results, and schedule appointments. It provides a convenient way to access your medical records and manage care for yourself and your family.”[1]
This AI explanation of MyChart reports that it is a “secure online tool.” It’s a tool alright but it is not secure! MyChart allows you to manage your health information, assuming you have access to it, while who knows who has unfettered access to your data including personal identifying information (PII)!
When I searched MyChart in my Internet browser all that came back were log in links to healthcare companies all over the U.S. The only information about MyChart was generated by AI and quoted above. What is MyChart and where does it live? What and whose data were breached by the hacker(s)? And what did the hacker do to MyChart?
What happened to the old days when a doctor would make house calls or call you on the telephone? What happened to follow-ups and personal service? What happened to calling a patient and telling them, “You need to see a specialist.”?
What happened to doctors doing what they do best, doctoring? Instead of sitting at a computer and asking you questions posed by a corporation that employs the physician? “Has anything changed since the last time I saw you?” “Have you received your vaccination?” It all seems so dystopian as everything is now managed by mega corporations through ethernet cables.
Rod Serling introduced each episode of the Twilight Zone with, “Imagine if you will . . . “ “The Twilight Zone is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described as entering ‘the Twilight Zone’. The episodes are in various genres, including science fiction, fantasy, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, supernatural drama, black comedy, and psychological thriller, frequently concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist, and usually with a moral.”[2]
So, imagine if you will a science fiction fantasy where doctors and patients revolted against dystopian corporations like pharmaceutical companies, food companies, fast-food restaurants, hospitals, and health-care providers.
Citizens must perform the unexpected twist against corporate giants who inundate the television programming with psychologically manipulative commercials as they market their miracle drugs simultaneously feeding us harmful chemicals needing to be balanced by chemicals prescribed to us by doctors through their computers. We must revolt against corporations that profit from keeping us ill to maintain their cash flow and bottom line?
The moral to this Twilight Zone episode is that your life and health is paramount. It is your life and your health and the consequences are that you are responsible for your own maintenance and health decisions. No insurance, pharmaceutical, or health care corporation has a dog in your hunt. They have a fiduciary responsibility to their stockholders only. You need to understand that you are their customer and the customer is always right.[3]
Take back your health. Take back your healthcare decision making. Research and educate yourself about what is best for you. Don’t be afraid to call bull shit when you recognize it but you’ve got to know it when you see it.
[1] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mychart&atb=v395-1&t=chromentp&ia=web
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Zone
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_customer_is_always_right
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