Emailing your doctor

My family physician doesn't use email with patients, at least not with me. I've got a doctor in New York City who prefers it. I can understand why doctors don't want to get into endless conversations with patients, especially if the meter isn't running.

Doctors who use email are rare.

According to the Center for Studying Health System Change, only 6.7% of the 4,200-plus office-based physicians who responded to a 2008 national survey “routinely” emailed patients about clinical matters. Most just didn’t have the technology available, but even among the doctors who had email access, only 19.5% regularly emailed with patients.

The reasons, according to the center: “lack of reimbursement, the potential for increased workload, maintaining data privacy and security, avoiding increased medical liability and the uncertain impact on care quality.”

Doctors working in practices the have already converted to electronic medical records were more likely to communicate with patients via email. So were physicians in HMOs or academic centers, compared to those in solo or two-doctor practices.

Given the reimbursement issue, it’s not surprising that physicians on a fixed salary were more likely to communicate with patients than those with other compensation arrangements. (Aetna and Cigna are among the insurers reimbursing providers for communicating with patients via secure messaging.) Other options for compensation include a set per-patient fee paid to physicians for agreeing to coordinate care using email and other means or an annual fee paid directly by patients for email access privileges, the center says.

Perhaps we can jump start this with some texting acronyms specifically for talking to doctors. IHWIL -- it hurts when I laugh. HMTDIH -- how much time do I have?  GITMS -- give it to me straight.

LOL.