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Issue 2, September 1997 ISSN 1368-1591

Letters

E-mail in practice

E-mail in practice

I found Dr Kane's review of the use of e-mail in clinical practice to be comprehensive and thought-provoking [SIMQ Issue 1]. In my own practice, a three-office, two-physician, busy Family Practice in New York City, I have taken a tentative step in the direction of incorporating electronic communications into the physician-patient interaction. Because I have serious reservations about the medicolegal issues as well as some of the other issues Dr Kane raised, my use of e-mail with patients has been limited to the reporting of normal test results.

Patients are given the opportunity to provide their e-mail addresses on our initial registration forms (nearly twenty percent report they have e-mail capabilities). They are further asked whether they would object to the reporting of test results via e-mail. Only a handful have declined, citing confidentiality issues with shared terminals and e-mail servers in the workplace.

When I report normal test results to a patient via e-mail, I preface the report by stating that:

  • the information contained herein is confidential
  • the information should be printed out for a permanent record
  • the patient should acknowledge receipt of the results by hitting
  • 'reply' in their mail option menu
  • any questions about test results should be posed via telephone or
  • by appointment.

Finally, a note is made in the patient's chart that results were reported via e-mail.

So far, the response has been positive. My own reaction is that some of my time is saved by reporting results in this manner. I'll keep you apprised of further developments, including other uses of e-mail in our practice.

Mark E. Horowitz MD
Downtown Family Medicine, PC
New York, USA

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Copyright © 1997 Society for the Internet in Medicine. All rights reserved.
Date: September 21, 1997
Document URL: http://www.cybertas.demon.co.uk/simq/issue2/letters.html