The number of physicians adopting e-mail has been distressingly low.
That’s a stark fact, especially when you consider that other industries have moved on from e-mail, using more instant forms of communication, like Twitter and other social networking tools.
There are a number of reasons, which have been discussed here in the past. They range from a lack of financial incentives for doctors to e-mail their patients to the bureaucracy that HIPAA places on electronic communication with patients.
But what if patients were allowed to freely e-mail their medical provider?
Well, sometimes you’d get long e-mails, says Bryan Vartabedian. There are some, when given the opportunity, who will write missives to their doctor, and sometimes, “too much information can cloud good communication.”
When talking face to face with patients, the conversation can be redirected. There’s no such influence in e-mail.
And consider the malpractice ramifications. As Dr. Vartabedian says, “every one of those 2,000 words is subject to legal discovery.”
Focusing electronic communication is a good idea. Patients will receive better-directed care, and office staff won’t be burdened with picking out the details within the e-mail that actually matter.
Similar Posts:
- How patient privacy laws impedes electronic communication with doctors
- Having access to online health information doesn’t make you a doctor
- Should patients talk with their doctors using social media?
{ 30 comments }
← Previous Comments
>>And consider the malpractice ramifications. As Dr. Vartabedian says, “every one of those 2,000 words is subject to legal discovery.”>>
I don’t routinely e-mail my physician, though I did when I developed an unexpected complication after a procedure, most likely as a result of her poor technique.
What came through loud and clear via e-mail was what an ass my physician was. She made several incredibly rude and unprofessional statements. I dropped her shortly thereafter.
e-Patient Dave:
“I love choice, variety, diversity – I love people being able to get what they want, and I love you being able to offer it.”
Thanks! I think what a lot of docs object to with the “new model of medicine” or whatever you want to call it, is that we’re being told (particularly within the PCMH model) that we HAVE to do this, this, and that: process is elevated to being far more important that results (i.e., better health for patients). E-mail may be great for some docs and patients, not for others. What counts is patient outcomes.
E Patient Dave:
“Did you see the Kaiser comment above about the reality of how it’s worked out for them?” I have several friends working for Kaiser, and Email is a pain for them and time intensive. They were logging in from home, while making dinner and answering long winded and complex medical questions – just ripe for legal review. Kaiser did (does)not give them extra time for ALL this extra work which is why many have left the clinics and become hospitalists. It has extended their liability to more interactions. Kaiser is a great system, but we shall see how this plays out. Although it may seem like docs just don’t want to answer patients questions, I see it more an issue of how much time and energy there is in a day. Open the floodgates and people will drown – and some of them will be patients – not just docs.
Your multiple replies and interjections of must read studies demonstrates a higher level of time commitment you are expecting from already overstretched PCP’s. This is really best suited for VIP/ Concierge medicine. It is not something that I, or most of my colleagues, could do very much of for the the next 10 years of my career. The rest of my career would either be shorter or as a hospitalist full time and giving up clinic patients that I have care for many years. That is not good medicine.
R. Watkins, “What counts is patient outcomes.” Bingo. That is the measure of our profession. Others get distracted but we should not. Email, PCMH, electronic health records, botox,new magazines in the waiting room–fluff, foolishness, child’s play all of it–unless it contributes to patient outcomes.
When it comes down to it, quality of care, which is ours to determine, must trump service, if service gets in quality’s way. The public might not want to hear this, but true physicians are in the business of giving people what they need and not necessarily what they want.
Hi Rezmed – I welcome your new info.
I hope I don’t come across as a know-it-all; I’ve never worked in a medical practice. Reviewing my comments above, my sin may have been in construing reported results as reality, and you’re saying that’s incomplete. I hear you.
Jsmith, I’m certainly interested in getting the job done, too. Not sure I agree, necessarily, with your last sentence. (Not saying I disagree, just saying “not sure I agree.”)
Merry Christmas to all Christmas people out there. And as I say now and then to each of my clinicians, “Thank you for going into this profession and being really, really good at it.” They saved my life.
← Previous Comments
Comments on this entry are closed.