General Medical issues thread

[Pushka]

It's just dumb and serves no purpose.
I'd rather a patient come for review having seen their results and subsequently having checked Dr google because they then come with questions.

One of these days (soon) there will be an AI Agent trained to interpret results and gives patients a list of questions to ask their Dr. Heck you could even train your own personal AI Agent/assistant to do that.

ChatGPT already does this. I have a list of questions from the results that are open and next week will finalise it when unlocked. The GP also uses Chat during the appointment. She does ask first but I’m totally onboard.

 

[VPS]

Unfortunately, the old days of family doctors are gone. These days, IME, while many GPs are good, many these days seem less so. Clinics are run for profits and doctors are under the pump. 15 min consultation but GP hasn’t read your charts or reports and analyse before you arrive (and many times hasn’t bothered to follow up reports from specialists you have been referred to) so means in essence maybe 13 minutes consultation and shallow discussion of symptoms, often leading to a long consultation and a $220 fee. If you can educate yourself (from good sources, nor CHATGPT only) in my opinion you can have a more productive discussion with the GP.

IMHO While I dislike AI Slop, good implementation of AI in medical diagnoses will be a good thing for both patient and medical practitioners. AI is already proving useful in analysis of various scans etc which alert the specialist to potential issues that may have been missed.

I just changed from a corporate to a private owned and much happier.

Each of the doctors made a decision that they will have 2 or 3 free appointments each day that are only bookable on the day.

My previous clinic I could rarely get to see my preferred GP for six weeks

 

[mrsterryn]

We go to a private doctors clinic which has probably twenty GPS , a couple of nurses , counsellors etc.

No bulk billing however if we go through the day it is $10 less . Though we would happily pay the standard rate. We can usually see our GP within a day or so , he is accessible for extra scripts , we can do zoom calls . He really does know our medical histories .

The service difference between this pay one (so to speak ) to the bulk billing one just up the road from us is massive

 

[Pushka]

So I wasn't going crazy at all saying that all tests were locked for me.

2. Time-Based Changes (Moving from 7 to 5 Days)
As of late 2025/early 2026, the previous 7-day delay for viewing pathology and imaging was reduced to 5 days, and in some cases, removed entirely to provide "faster access".

 

[drron]

We are not talking about using AI for a self diagnosis, we are talking about using AI/Search engine to better understand the official analysis of the results that a pathologist and/or specialist Doctor have provided ahead of GP appointment where you can then ask further questions.

I respectfully disagree with @drron that making sure you understand the medical language used is dangerous, as @Quickstatus said this isn't happening in a vaccuum but to help one better prepare for the discussion with the GP (or specialist) in follow-up appointment.

If qualified specialists/pathologists leverage AI to assist in timely diagnosis, there should be checks and balances from a real person to double check / verify the findings before these are shared with the patient and GP. But i see no harm in getting verified results at the same time as the GP and being able to prepare to ask the right questions at that follow-up appointment.

A patient or patients carer can be their own best advocate. Doctors like other professions also have unconscious bias and make assumptions, so sometimes you have to ask re alternatives or push for further tests or different referrals.

If my GP went by the standard recommendations because my poop test was negative and I didnt have any symptoms then a colonoscopy and gastroscopy would not have been indicated. But because one of my sisters and I both pushed due to family history and a desire to get a baseline, we were able to get the procedure before 50 and both had findings (polyps and lesions) that are now needing further investigation, so now our even younger sister will now be pushing for the same.

You have misunderstood my point. The point is many people misinterpret the answer they have found on google or Ai. So instead of getting the medical language made clear to them they indeed make a diagnosis.
In my career I tried to use non medical language when talking to patients.

There is another problem with medical advice. It has been shown many times that people interviewed soon after a consultation were wrong in what they thought they had been told. I often encouraged people to record the consultation making sure that I also recorded it if they did..

 

[Aeryn]

Sorry i disagree, the diagnosis is in the lab report not from google. Google doesnt have access to the pathology, but a definition of a word is a fact.

The reason some people dont take in everything the doctor says is shock, which is why if they have results in advance of consult they have had time to digest the result and research everything thing it says and prepare meaningful questions for their GP.

 

[drron]

Sorry i disagree, the diagnosis is in the lab report not from google. Google doesnt have access to the pathology, but a definition of a word is a fact.

The reason some people dont take in everything the doctor says is shock, which is why if they have results in advance of consult they have had time to digest the result and research everything thing it says and prepare meaningful questions for their GP.

Many look up Google and search their symptoms for a diagnosis. That is what I am saying. In my particular branch of medicine it was usual for the diagnosis to be made and then confirmed by the tests.
History was important. Then just looking at the patient and observing.. Next clinical examination by which time you should have the diagnosis 76% of the time.
Also no tests are-100% accurate. Any one who relies 100% on tests for the diagnosis is going to be wrong more often than they think.

 

[Quickstatus]

The reason some people dont take in everything the doctor says is shock,

Should go to Gp with support person if anything unexpected detected on tests

 

[Pushka]

Should go to Gp with support person if anything unexpected detected on tests

But most won't know the results of their tests and people aren't going to drag someone else along just in case.

 

[Quickstatus]

But most won't know the results

if they have the results then a good idea.
If they don't had they suspect something awry the also a good idea

 

[andye]

I'm all for patients having access to information but..

One of the rewarding things about medicine is that you meet such a wide variety of people. Some are very organised and stoic, some are anxious or chaotic or impulsive (sometimes the same person can be these things at different times).

One of the concerns is that people could be receiving reports suggestive of (for example) cancer while alone (or just accompanied by a bottle of scotch and some pills).

I had a taste of this when I accessed my MRI prostate report which (even to a hospital doctor) was highly suggestive of aggressive disease. Lots of sleepless nights. The Urologist was less convinced- all turned out to be localised and not needing treatment. Worth remembering that radiology (and to some extent histology and lab) are not always the final word

 

[Aeryn]

Well personally if a specialist / GP / Path lab was withholding results from me pending a follow-up I would never use them again as I feel this is unprofessional and I like as much information as possible to prepare questions ahead of time. Information is everything. As far as Im concerned I've paid for the exam/test so the results belong to me and I'm entitled to all the information as soon as its available since it is about me and I need it to best advocate for me.

Just because someone with mental health issues might do something stupid isn't a good reason to withhold/delay information from those of us without mental health issues. Id argue the stress of waiting would be more damaging than knowing for most.

If i didn't understand what was being said, I would ask for the info to be repeated whilst I recorded on my phone so I can research further later on but as I usually prepped beforehand based on the report this has never been necessary. Plus my GP knows I like info so always emails links to trusted sources where I can read more if I want.

My sisters and I (whomever is attending with her that day) always record my Mum's specialist consults so we can review again later as a team. As she has dementia she cant advocate for herself and Dad doesn't always ask what we would.

The preliminary report I got from gastroenterologist last Thurs (the day of my colonoscopy and gastroscopy) indicated a possible infection in my esophagus and different types of polyps in stomach and bowel and indicated I needed to check in with GP in 2 weeks when full pathology would be available to review.

However GP practice practice sms'd this morning to say they had test results to discuss, as I had nothing else outstanding i knew this would be pathology from last weeks procedures, there was an appointment available at midday so I went in.

All pathology was fine no infection, no helicobacter, no metaplasia, no ulceration, no malignancy so nothing of concern. Come back for a follow-up colonoscopy and gastroscopy in 12 months as the recent one was my first so they had no idea how long the polyps had been growing. If next years is all ok will move to less often, showing caution due to family history.

Whilst the questions I had prepared based on preliminary report were not needed, I felt calmer for having done my homework. If i couldn't have made it to GP today I would have had her email me the detail pathology report ahead of seeing her later and I know she would do this for me.

The lesson I've learned is if you have any family history of gastro or colorectal cancer, ask for endoscopy for baseline before any symptoms preferably by age 40. If younger and have symptoms don't assume it is IBS or something advocate for yourself to get a procedure, there is no out of pocket the gap from Medicare fee is 100% covered by hospital cover.

 

[mrsterryn]

@Aeryn I don't know, back in 2015 husband was having cardiogram, MRI and a couple of other bits and pieces done to give the Gp a base line . Husband was a brand new patient .That was a Thursday , Friday he got an urgent call from his GP to come and see him. Husband did and was told about his brain tumours , on the Saturday we both went together. The most important part from our point of view was the GP could immediately tell us that husband was going to be admitted to hospital and under hospital care from Saturday . I found that given the knowledge of his conditions AND the resulting medical care was better . It was hard enough to know

I don't think everyone's results should be promptly released without medical help in certain situations. Perhaps they err on the side of 20% it would be a problem to release so they just make it blanket until the medical person can review

Note I am aware my husband's was urgent from the point of the MRI

He has also had numerous health issues since

 

[Flashback]

My report says patient copy and I know it was sent by email to my GP the same day as I was also cc'd on that.

Not ideal really, surely they should be using more secure methods of information sharing than e-mail!

 

[Aeryn]

Not ideal really, surely they should be using more secure methods of information sharing than e-mail!

Email is encrypted and files password protected. I dont have a problem with it, far more secure than snail mail which can easily be taken from a letter box.