Electronic communication and collaboration in a health care practice.

Using cognitive evaluation techniques, this study examines the effects of an electronic patient record and electronic mail on the interactions of health care providers. We find that the least structured communication methods are also the most heavily used: face-to-face, telephone, and electronic mail. Positive benefits of electronically-mediated interactions include improving communication, collaboration, and access to information to support decision-making. Negative factors include the potential for overloading clinicians with unwanted or unnecessary communications.