By Natalie Slodowy, IntelliSuite Technologies
To most doctors, the thought of opening the gates of patient contact through email is one that brings on an understandable level of uneasiness. Concerns include a surge of incoming communication, clarity of conveying messages, and of course security issues. Although these are all very valid concerns, studies are showing that patient-physician email actually improves practice workflow and decreases incoming patient queries and even visits.
According to a survey done by the AP and Washington Post, less than one third of physicians are communicating with patients via email, while a study by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine shows that nearly 80% of patients surveyed would prefer to see a doctor with electronic communication capabilities.
Of course critical medical issues do not fall into the category of acceptable email topics, but for routine issues such as appointment scheduling/changes, prescription refills, or lab results, email contact has shown to benefit both doctor and patient.
A study conducted last year by the Kaiser Permanente found that when patients used a secure website to communicate with their doctor’s office, incoming phone calls decreased by 14%.
In addressing the concern many doctors have that allowing patient email access will call forth a surge of tedious and possibly unnecessary questions, the University of Pittsburgh found in their study that, on average, physicians received just one email a day and were able to respond 57% more quickly than by telephone communication.
In terms of liability and privacy, the concerns can be large, but studies show that they are fairly easily addressed. Having the patient sign a simple instruction or waiver form, indicating the limitations of email contact with their doctor can erase most of the gray area. It should be specified that an email is in no way meant to replace an office visit, and that diagnosis of any sort is not its purpose. However for simple questions regarding dosing, office hours, future visits, test results, etc., giving patients the option to access their doctor electronically can produce surprisingly efficient and simplifying results.
And the doctors who have started using email with their patients are actually part of a larger developing movement. In addition to several government incentives rewarding physicians for increasing their digitalization, insurers like Cigna and Aetna have developed programs to reimburse doctors for utilizing virtualized patient contact processes.