You've Got E-mail



As many of you know, I am a big advocate of using modern technology to ease the burden of office work. One of the common tools at our disposal, but which I've been hesitant to use, is e-mail. The physicians at my practice felt it would create a problem, if they were available online, and they had visions of overloaded servers as patients asked them endless questions that should be handled on a direct, face-to-face basis.



Still, I've read that patient satsifaction increased greatly when email was made available, so I continually broached the topic at meetings. A month ago, I got the go-ahead to give it a limted trial basis.



The first thing I did was skip the free stuff like Yahoo! and Hotmail. Keeping medical records private is of paramount importance, so I subscribed the office to a secure, encrypted site which charged us a set-up fee, and then a nominal monthly fee thereafter.



The next thing I did was select patients with chronic issues thar required regular check-ups and maintenance. For a fee of $25 per year, I told them they could have unlimited e-mail access. They could use it to make appointments, ask general questions, request prescription refills, and even see part of their medical records. They could also use e-mail to replace any regular phone consultations they were making with their doctor.



I emphasized to them that anything requiring actually contact, such as a change in condition or a check-up, had to be done in person. Insurance companies are notoriously difficult regarding e-visits, so thus far we've avoided any situation where a copay might be involved. It is a direction we may be headed in, but right now we are restricting e-mails to routine things.



There were a few misunderstandings at first. One patient started to describe a rash he had gotten on his backside, and the doctor had to tell him to come into the office, but overall this test run has been very successful. There hasn't been a flood of unnecessary e-mails--in fact, most of the patients became more careful through the act of putting their thoughts into words. The best part was every single patient who participated loved the process, and the satisfaction rate has made it clear that this is the direction we will be heading in for the foreseeable future.



Of course, I wonder if anyone else has taken this plunge. Do any of you use e-mail in your practice? If so, how is it working? If not, what are your concerns? As always, I'd love to hear from you!