Medicine and Email: Chances and Perils

Email has created a renaissance of letter writing (although nobody seems to have intended or particularly noticed this). In the same way it helped connect relatives and friends it can improve communication between patients and doctors.

Asynchronous Communication

Physicians have little time. They can be difficult to reach in person and on the phone. Email can help.

Because it is an asynchronous means of communication email does not require both patient and doctor to be available at the very same time. Doctors may answer their email at night, in the morning, whenever their schedule allows them to do it. Of course this also means that messages that require an instant reply are not appropriate for email.

Appointments and Reminders

Email seems to be an ideal way to make appointments. This not time critical and routine process can be handled via email quite effectively. Furthermore, email can be used to send reminders of appointments, automatically and with little effort.

Email reminders may also be sent for routine tasks the patient can perform herself or for general advice and education. The patient's status and progress can also be tracked by email.

Information Requests

Email will prove to be a very easy and efficient way to require and access general health information.

For example, you can ask your doctor for a list of foods containing vitamin B6, or for a list of vaccinations required if you want to go to the Solomon Islands.

Quality Face-to-face Contact

Email in the patient-doctor communication will hopefully eventually lead to doctors having more time at their hands for face-to-face contact where it is needed or appropriate. It is not an end in itself.