Physicians have been slower to use email to communicate with patients about clinical issues compared to the speed with which they have adopted other clinical applications of information technology. This finding comes from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) Community Tracking Study Physician Survey, a nationally representative telephone survey of continental US physicians. It was reported in last month’s HSC Data Bulletin.
About 24% of respondents reported using email to communicate with patients about clinical issues in the 2004-2005 survey, compared to 20% in 2000-2001. In contrast, reported use of IT to access patient notes and write prescriptions increased by 38% (36.6% to 50.4%) and nearly 100% (11.4% to 21.9%), respectively, according to an earlier Data Bulletin. Physicians in staff or group HMO practices reported the highest rates of email use for to communicate clinically with patients, with 47% using email in this way. Practices for who Medicare constitutes at least 50% of revenue were less likely to report using email for patient clinical communications compared to those with less revenue from Medicare (18% vs 26%, respectively). About 22% of medical specialists responded that they use email in this way, compared to 28% of surgical specialists and 24% of primary care physicians.
HSC cites several possible reasons for the lag in adoption of email for patient clinical communication. These include the cost of implementing a secure messaging system, concern that email will add to workload rather than substitute for phone or in-person consultation, and lack of reimbursement for email consultations.
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