E-mail communications in family practice: what do patients expect?
| Autor: | Couchman GR; Department of Family & Community Medicine, Scott & White Memorial Hospital, and Scott, Sherwood and Brindley Foundation, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine, Temple 76504, USA. gcouchaman@swmail.sw.org, Forjuoh SN, Rascoe TG |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | The Journal of family practice [J Fam Pract] 2001 May; Vol. 50 (5), pp. 414-8. |
| Abstrakt: | Objective: Many health care providers and patients are exploring the feasibility of using E-mail to address a variety of medical issues. The researchers wanted to determine the proportion of their patient population with E-mail access, determine patients' willingness to use this technology to expedite communication with health care providers, and assess their expectations of response times. Study Design: A cross-sectional, in-person prevalence survey. Population: Patients (n=950) with scheduled appointments to see a primary care provider in 6 of 18 family practice clinics in a large health care delivery system in central Texas. Outcomes Measured: The proportion of patients with E-mail access, their willingness to use it, and their expectations regarding the timeliness of responses to their E-mail queries about selected clinical services. Results: Overall, 54.3% of the patients reported having E-mail access, with significant variation among the 6 clinics (33%-75%). Reported areas of strongest desire for using E-mail were to request prescription refills (90%), for non-urgent consultations (87%), and to obtain routine laboratory results or test reports (84%). Patients' expectations regarding the timeliness of responses to their E-mail queries varied by clinical service. For laboratory results, their expectations were: less than 9 hours, 21%; 9 to 24 hours, 53%; and more than 24 hours, 26%. Conclusions: Most patients attending family practice clinics in central Texas have E-mail access and indicate they would use it to request prescription refills, for non-urgent consultations, and to obtain routine laboratory results or test reports. Regardless of sex or race, patients have high expectations that these tasks can be completed within a relatively short time. |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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