Never Touch the Table

The query SELECT user_id, status FROM orders WHERE user_id = $1 uses the index on (user_id), but the plan still shows a heap fetch for every matching row and latency is dominated by random reads. What is the targeted fix?

Drop the index on user_id, since a sequential scan reads the table in physical order and avoids random heap access entirely

Add status to the index as a trailing key column or an INCLUDE payload, so the index alone answers the query as an index-only scan

Create a second standalone index on status so the planner can bitmap-AND the two indexes together and answer the query without the heap

Raise the working memory setting so the index and the matching rows both stay resident, which is what removes the random reads