Emailing Your Doctor: Good Idea or No?
July 15, 2008 by Liberty Kontranowski
Filed under Computers, Health, Healthcare, Medical History, Medicine, Relationships
In this vast virtual world of ours, more and more clinicians are inviting patients to email them, rather than calling them on the telly. But is this a good plan?
This article on New York Times.com shares the experience of a doc dabbling in the world of patient email. What’s described are instances of near-misses, frustrated patients, and an equally frustrated doctor. Mind you, he is a mental health professional, but I wonder if the same could be true across the board.
His deduction? For simple things like changing appointment times, refilling scripts and the like, email is a magical thing. But if there’s a major medical question or something’s burning on your mind, it’s best to call or maybe even head in.
So what are your thoughts? Does your doc have an email system? Do you get the answers you seek in a timely manner? Or is there nothing that can replace good ‘ol fashioned face-to-face meetings? Leave us a comment and let us know…
Kelly Townsend