Tara Parker-Pope's Well column on the New York Times website has an interesting item today about
doctors and e-mail .
She reports on an
Australian study appearing in Archives of Surgery that showed that when patients scheduled for elective surgery were given a doctor's e-mail address--and told that's the doctor's preferred method of communication--they were twice as likely to contact their doctor before their surgery than if given a standard information sheet.
Using e-mail did not affect patient satisfaction with surgical outcomes one way or another.
There's no doubt that patients like having e-mail access to their doctors, and may improve communication. Issues of compensation, privacy and HIPAA compliance need to be worked out before the practice will become widespread.
She reports on an Australian study appearing in Archives of Surgery that showed that when patients scheduled for elective surgery were given a doctor's e-mail address--and told that's the doctor's preferred method of communication--they were twice as likely to contact their doctor before their surgery than if given a standard information sheet.
Using e-mail did not affect patient satisfaction with surgical outcomes one way or another.
There's no doubt that patients like having e-mail access to their doctors, and may improve communication. Issues of compensation, privacy and HIPAA compliance need to be worked out before the practice will become widespread.