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. 2003 May;18(5):385-9.
doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20627.x.

Physicians' use of and attitudes toward electronic mail for patient communication

Barak Gaster  1 , Christopher L Knight, Dawn E DeWitt, John V L Sheffield, Nassim P Assefi, Dedra Buchwald
Affiliations

Physicians' use of and attitudes toward electronic mail for patient communication

Barak Gaster et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2003 May.

Abstract

To assess physicians' use of and attitudes toward electronic mail (e-mail) for patient communication, we conducted a mail-in survey of physicians who see patients in outpatient clinics affiliated with a large academic medical center (N = 283). Seventy-two percent of physicians reported using e-mail to communicate with patients, averaging 7.7 e-mails from patients per month. The lowest level of use was by community-based primary care physicians (odds ratio, 0.22; 95% confidence interval, 0.08 to 0.59). Those physicians who reported using e-mail with patients reported high satisfaction with its use. Although physicians were concerned about the confidentiality of e-mail, few discussed this issue with patients.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Physician practices and attitudes toward patient electronic mail (e-mail). Values may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
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