Email in medical care: Starting to catch on?

On April 23rd I wrote about the benefits of using email in physician-patient communication, and how trends in this area are inevitably going to change the standards of communication in years to come.  I’ve also written about Dr. Jay Parkinson and the company, Myca, who are pushing the use of technology to improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the physician-patient relationship through the use of instant messaging, video-conferencing and email.

Email and other efficient modes of communication are undoubtedly in our near future as healthcare providers.  Now if we could just get the payers to notice…

Well, it looks like they are starting to notice.  As part of the medical home model, Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan is entering a 2 year pilot program which will, among other things, pay physicians for using communications such as email to improve the efficiency of interaction with patients.  This article from Times Union explains.

Currently, doctors are paid only for face-to-face visits. There’s little incentive for busy doctors to explore other types of interactions, said Bruce Nash, chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs at CDPHP.

“The rest of the world’s used e-mail for a decade,” he said. “It’s been limited to a physician, because it hasn’t been paid for.”

3 responses to “Email in medical care: Starting to catch on?”

1. Tim Richardson writes:
   

   Tannus,

   Some of what physical therapists do is visual – measuring ROM and posture, for example.

   Can these measurements be taken over tele-medicine lines and be accurate enough to base treatment decisions?

   For example, could I assess a swayback posture in a patient with lower back pain and recommend a video of my posture program, available on my website?

   More importantly, could I be paid for that recommendation?

   Tim Richardson, PT

   @ June 15th, 2008 at 19:20
2. Tannus Quatre PT, MBA writes:
   

   Tim,

   You’re hitting on one of the biggest barriers to the adoption of tele-medicine or “virtual healthcare” – the ability to provide examination and treatment at a level of quality that meets the standards of care present in the physical environment.

   I don’t know exactly what the future holds, but for most “physical” interventions such as those provided by PT’s, I don’t think we’re going to get away from face-to-face interaction as a primary means of providing care…nor do we want to. I do think however, that there is great potential in the area of electronic communication to improve the quality and efficiency of the heathcare experience, even for professionals such as PT’s that provide mainly hands-on interventions.

   Using email, IM, etc. for follow up contact and real-time patient interaction is what patients are demanding, and it can actually make the provider’s life easier by adding efficiency to patient communication.

   In regard to recommending an online video for follow-up education and patient reference – absolutely! There are products already on the market that offer significant benefits to both patients and providers by placing important information online where it can be customized by the provider and accessed by the patient. PerfectFit Health is a company that has done a great job of providing a clean online interface that does just this (http://www.perfectfithealth.com).

   Tannus Quatre PT, MBA

   @ June 16th, 2008 at 15:43
3. Richard Schoor MD, FACS writes:
   

   I like email and find it must less intrusive on my time than phone calls. Patients who wish to contact the doctor rather than make an appointment will do so whether it is by email or phone. I find that patients who like email are actually more respectful of my time. . .and their own.
   I don’t lose money because I use email.

   @ July 3rd, 2008 at 08:02