ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2006
Physicians' use of email with patients: factors influencing electronic communication and adherence to best practices.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Empirical Foundations of Telemedicine Interventions in Primary Care.Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association · 2016Pooled it
- Email for clinical communication between healthcare professionals.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Patients' online access to their electronic health records and linked online services: a systematic interpretative review.BMJ open · 2014Pooled it
- Email for clinical communication between patients/caregivers and healthcare professionals.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Systematic review of factors influencing the adoption of information and communication technologies by healthcare professionals.Journal of medical systems · 2012Pooled it
- E-mail in patient-provider communication: a systematic review.Patient education and counseling · 2010Pooled it
- Interventions for promoting information and communication technologies adoption in healthcare professionals.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2009Pooled it
- Association between physician age and patterns of end-of-life care among older Americans.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2024Article
- The Epidemiology of Patients' Email Addresses in a French University Hospital: Case-Control Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
- American College of Physicians Ethical Guidance for Electronic Patient-Physician Communication: Aligning Expectations.Journal of general internal medicine · 2020Article
- GPs' perspectives on eHealth use in the Czech Republic: a cross-sectional mixed-design survey study.BJGP open · 2019Article
- Patient portal utilization: before and after stage 2 electronic health record meaningful use.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2019Article
- Article
- Immigrants' Use of eHealth Services in the United States, National Health Interview Survey, 2011-2015.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974) · 2018Article
- Examining the Complexity of Patient-Outpatient Care Team Secure Message Communication: Qualitative Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2018Article
- A survey of physicians' experience and awareness of institutional provisions designed to foster patient engagement in KSA.Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences · 2018Article
- A critical appraisal of guidelines for electronic communication between patients and clinicians: the need to modernize current recommendations.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2018Review
- Growth Dynamics of Patient-Provider Internet Communication: Trend Analysis Using the Health Information National Trends Survey (2003 to 2013).Journal of medical Internet research · 2018Article
- Understanding the influences and impact of patient-clinician communication in cancer care.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2017Article
- Email Between Patient and Provider: Assessing the Attitudes and Perspectives of 624 Primary Health Care Patients.JMIR medical informatics · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWith the public's increased use of the Internet, the use of email as a means of communication between patients and physicians will likely increase. Yet, despite evidence of increased interest by patients, e-mail use by physicians for clinical care has been slow.
objectiveTo examine the factors associated with physician-patient e-mail, and report on the physicians' adherence to recognized guidelines for e-mail communication.
methodsCross-sectional survey (March-May, 2005) of all primary care physicians (n = 10253), and a 25% stratified, random sample of all ambulatory clinical specialists (n = 3954) in the state of Florida. Physicians were surveyed on email use with patients, adherence to recognized guidelines, and demographics.
resultsThe 4203 physicians completed the questionnaire (a 28.2% participation rate). Of these, 689 (16.6%) had personally used e-mail to communicate with patients. Only 120 (2.9%) used e-mail with patients frequently. In univariate analysis, e-mail use correlated with physician age (decreased use: age > 61; P = .014), race (decreased use: Asian background; P < .001), medical training (increased use: family medicine, P = .001; or surgical specialty, P = .007; but not internal medicine, P = .112), practice size (> 50 physicians, P < .001), and geographic location (urban 17.2% vs. rural, 7.9%; P < .001). Multivariate modeling showed that only practice size greater than 50 (OR = 1.94; 95% CI = 1.01-3.79) and Asian-American race (OR = 0.26; 95% CI = 0.14-0.49) were related to e-mail use with patients. Remarkably, only 46 physicians (6.7%) adhered to at least half of the 13 selected guidelines for e-mail communication.
conclusionsThis large survey of physicians, practicing in ambulatory settings, shows only modest advances in the adoption of e-mail communication, and little adherence to recognized guidelines for e-mail correspondence. Further efforts are required to educate both patients and physicians on the advantages and limitations of e-mail communication, and to remove fiscal and legal barriers to its adoption.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.