Noticing, Out Loud

We all know there are too many medical portals. Way too many.

Some math.

I have five for my own care. Five more for a family member I support. Another five for someone else I help manage care for. And five for my partner.

That’s twenty different accounts. Across five different health systems.

I have a small surgery coming up, which meant creating yet another portal account. I entered my email address.

It is already in use.

Not by me. By a family member who does not use email.

The solution suggested by the portal was straightforward: create a new email address.

If we assume my partner is an independent adult for administrative purposes, that still leaves me actively tracking fifteen portal accounts. Some involve complex medical care. All involve messages, results, forms, and reminders.

The current trajectory suggests I will soon be managing multiple additional email addresses as well.

I am starting this blog because I notice things.

Some are small. Some are not.

Many are dismissed as ordinary, or inevitable, or “just how it works.”

Over time I have realized that what is considered normal often has real consequences for real people.