Houston Thomas K, Sands Daniel Z, Nash Beth R, Ford Daniel E
Department of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Health Commun. 2003;15(4):515-25. doi: 10.1207/S15327027HC1504_08.
Despite its potential, the use of e-mail for physician-patient communication has not been widely adopted. Our purpose was to survey the experiences of physicians who are early adopters of the technology. Physicians, identified through a professional Internet information portal, completed a survey, including an assessment of satisfaction with using e-mail with patients. We identified 204 physicians who reported using e-mail with patients on a daily basis. Average age of the respondents was 49 years, 82% were male, and 35% were primary-care physicians. Among the 204 frequent users, commonly reported e-mail topics were new, nonurgent symptoms, and questions about lab results. Despite their daily use, 25% were not satisfied with physician-patient e-mail. The most important reasons for using e-mail with patients among those who were satisfied were "time saving" (33%) and "helps deliver better care" (28%) compared with "patient requested" (80%) among those who were not satisfied (p <.01). Dissatisfied physicians reported concerns about time demands, medicolegal risks, and ability of patients to use e-mail appropriately. Although the majority of these "vanguard" physicians reported benefits, some did not recommend that colleagues adopt this new technology. Increasing integration into practice to enhance time-saving aspects and improve patient education might lead to more sustained use of this promising communication tool.
尽管电子邮件在医患沟通方面具有潜力，但它尚未得到广泛应用。我们的目的是调查那些早期采用该技术的医生的经历。通过专业互联网信息门户识别出的医生完成了一项调查，其中包括对使用电子邮件与患者沟通的满意度评估。我们确定了204名每天都使用电子邮件与患者沟通的医生。受访者的平均年龄为49岁，82%为男性，35%为初级保健医生。在这204名频繁使用者中，常见的电子邮件主题是新出现的非紧急症状以及关于实验室检查结果的问题。尽管他们每天都使用电子邮件，但25%的人对医患电子邮件沟通并不满意。在满意的使用者中，使用电子邮件与患者沟通的最重要原因是“节省时间”（33%）和“有助于提供更好的护理”（28%），而在不满意的使用者中，这一原因是“患者要求”（80%）（p<0.01）。不满意的医生报告了对时间需求、医疗法律风险以及患者正确使用电子邮件能力的担忧。尽管这些“先锋”医生中的大多数报告了使用电子邮件的好处，但一些人并不建议同事采用这项新技术。加强在实践中的整合以增强节省时间的方面并改善患者教育，可能会导致对这一有前景的沟通工具的更持续使用。
