PAMFOnline—Making It Easier to Manage Your Health Care
You already do so much online: pay your bills, read the news, order airline tickets. Why not use the Internet to manage your health care, too? For years, patients of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) have been just a few clicks away from using our e-health service, PAMFOnline, to access medical records online, request prescription renewals and appointments, view test results, communicate with their PAMF health care team and more. Now, PAMF patients in the Santa Cruz area (formerly Santa Cruz Medical Foundation) can also use this service, and soon, patients of the former Camino Medical Group will have the capability to use PAMFOnline, too!
Information at Your Fingertips
PAMFOnline is an innovative package of Internet-based services made possible by PAMF’s electronic health record (EHR) system. After signing up for PAMFOnline and establishing a unique I.D. and password, patients can view key components of their medical record, which includes information on their current health conditions, with links to educational and self-care information on each condition, as well as request appointments or view their lab results.
Patients can also access information on previous and scheduled appointments; medications prescribed; drug allergies; immunization history; and a health maintenance schedule indicating when a patient is due to have a routine health maintenance procedure, such as colorectal screening or a Pap smear. You can also communicate electronically with your doctors and advice nurses through secure online messaging. With PAMFOnline Messaging, you can ask your doctor questions, follow up with your doctor on a recent appointment or let your doctor know how you’re doing on a new treatment.
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What Do Patients Have to Say About PAMFOnline?
PAMF patients love using PAMFOnline to stay connected with their doctors and on top of their health care. One PAMFOnline user tells how the e-health service helped him after a recent injury. “Recently, I went to PAMF Urgent Care, and they took an X-ray of my hand. I didn’t have to call for results. As soon as the results were put in my medical record, I was sent an e-mail alert that my records had changed and was able to immediately view my results via PAMFOnline. I also forgot the prescription number of one of my medications, but went into PAMFOnline, requested a refill and was alerted when it was done.”
Another patient whose husband recently had surgery for prostate cancer says PAMFOnline provided them with the results of a much-anticipated test fast—and with the information they needed to have peace of mind.
“We were impatient and nervous to get the outcome of the test,” she says. “His lab report was posted on PAMFOnline the same day the test was taken, and the results indicated no cancer. Not only was this information a relief to us, but we were able to read the report and look up words we didn’t understand until we were able to speak with the doctor in more detail. During this time of national health care crisis, everyone is looking at ways to improve health care and reduce costs. We’re both believers in PAMFOnline as a means to this end.”
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Working to Provide You With Seamless Care
Since PAMF’s three historic medical groups merged in 2008, we have been working to ensure the clinical, administrative and technical foundations are in place to allow you to see any of primary or specialty care doctor throughout the PAMF system. PAMF (formerly Camino Medical Group) is launching a large-scale project to upgrade our electronic health record (EHR) system so all PAMF medical centers use the same EHR, a process that will continue over the next year.
After this change is complete, you will be able to receive the medical care you need more conveniently across the PAMF network. The new technology also provides enhanced privacy of your health information, boosts your doctors’ ability to coordinate any number of services to ensure you receive the very best care and gives you access to PAMFOnline! Stay tuned for more information.
Sign Up To Sign On
At your next doctor’s visit, ask a member of your health care team about how you can sign up for PAMFOnline. To learn more about how the e-health service can help you manage your care online, visit pamfonline.org.