E-mail Access May Improve Patient-Surgeon Communication

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E-mail Access May Improve Patient-Surgeon Communication

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/98200.php

E-mail access to one's surgeon has can improve doctor-patient

communication. Additionally, this seems to occur without affecting

levels of patient satisfaction. This was reported on February 18,

2008 in Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

E-mail has influenced industries worldwide, including banking and

retail, but there has been minimal research about its use in health

care, The physician-patient relationship traditionally has not

utilized electronic means of communication. " The fundamental basis of

the physician-patient relationship has always been face-to-face

communication. However, advances in communications technology have,

from time to time, challenged that assumption, " other than dire

warnings about the potential minefield of legal disasters and

litigation that might accompany its use. "

Stalberg, M.D., Ph.D., of the Royal North Shore Hospital,

Sydney, Australia, and colleagues canvassed 100 patients before they

underwent thyroid or parathyroid surgery. Half of these patients were

assigned were set to receive a contact sheet including the e-mail

address of the surgeon, with a statement to inform them that the

surgeon preferred e-mail to other forms of communication. The average

age of this group was 45.1 years. The other half of these patients

received an information sheet without an e-mail address or statement

about the preferred method of communication of the surgeon. The

average age of the second set was 48.2 years. The e-mail address was

made available to all patients on the appointment card as well as on

an associated website.

The researchers analyzed patient communication with the surgeon

outside of consultation, in addition to information provided on

patient satisfaction questionnaires. Of the 100 participants, 26 of

the patients initiated communication with the surgeon near the time

of the operation. Of these, 19 came from the e-mail-encouraged group

and 7 came from the e-mail-discouraged group. Of those 26 who

initiated communication, 22 did so by e-mail, three by fax, and one

by telephone. In the group of 22 who used e-mail, 18 were in the

group provided with e-mail information, while 4 were in the group

that did not receive special e-mail information.

Generally, e-mails only addressed one issue, through some exceptions

addressed as many as four separate issues in one e-mail. The most

popular types of issues were general information (21 e-mails),

postoperative recovery (eight e-mails), results (five e-mails) and

reassurance (four e-mails.) Patient satisfaction was found to be

comparable in both groups.

The authors conclude, tying e-mail preference to the

patients. " People who use e-mail certainly would like to have e-mail

access to their physicians, " they write. " Despite the many concerns,

we believe that this study shows that the provision to patients of

readily available e-mail access to their surgeon provides a very

effective means of improving communication prior to patients

undergoing elective surgery. "

E-mail Access and Improved Communication Between Patient and Surgeon

Stalberg, MD, PhD; Yeh, MD; Geraldine Ketteridge;

Delbridge, BEd; Leigh Delbridge, MD, FRACS

Arch Surg. 2008;143(2):164-168