Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2008 Mar-Apr;15(2):235-9.
doi: 10.1197/jamia.M2503. Epub 2007 Dec 20.

Characteristics of effective electronic mail messages distributed to healthcare professionals in a hospital setting

Jens Kaltschmidt  1 , Simon P W Schmitt, Markus G Pruszydlo, Walter E Haefeli
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Characteristics of effective electronic mail messages distributed to healthcare professionals in a hospital setting

Jens Kaltschmidt et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2008 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

Electronic mailing systems (e-mail) are an important means to disseminate information within electronic networks. However, in large business communities including the hectic environment of hospitals it may be difficult to induce account holders to read the e-mail. In two mailings disseminated in a large university hospital we evaluated the impact of e-mail layout (three e-mail text versions, two e-mails with graphics) on the willingness of its approximately 6500 recipients to seek additional electronic information and open an integrated link. Overall access rates after 90 days were 21.1 and 23.5% with more than 70% of the respondents opening the link within 3 days. Differences between different layouts were large and artwork text, HTML text, animated GIF, and static image prompted 1.2, 1.7, 1.8, and 2.3 times more often access than the courier plain text message (p <or= 0.001). This study revealed that layout is a major determinant of the success of an information campaign.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1A
Figure 1A
E-mail with a text message (artwork text) sent to inform addressees about a new feature in their web-based drug information system (AiDKlinik) (1st mailing). The message states: On average hospitalized patients are exposed to eleven different drugs. The computerized physician order entry system (Medibox) supports the evaluation of the resulting 55 combination pairs for drug interactions.
Figure 1B
Figure 1B
E-mail with a message containing a GIF file with or without animation to alert account holders to a new interaction tool in their drug information system (AiDKlinik) (1st mailing).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cumulative calls of the link page in the first 96 hours after sending the first (interaction; panel A) and second mailing (pregnancy; panel B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Car J, Sheikh A. Email consultations in health care: 1—scope and effectiveness BMJ 2004;329:435-438. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Neville RG, Marsden W, McCowan C, Pagliari C, Mullen H, Fannin A. A survey of GP attitudes to and experiences of email consultations Inform Prim Care 2004;12:201-205. - PubMed
    1. Olson GM, Olson JS. Human-computer interaction: Psychological aspects of the human use of computing Annu Rev Psychol 2003;54:491-516. - PubMed
    1. Scally G, Donaldson LJ. Looking forward: Clinical governance and the drive for quality improvement in the new NHS in England BMJ 1998;317:61-65. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wilson RF. Survey of e-mail format preferences and programs. Web Marketing Today 2003; Issue 124. http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt8/email_format_preferences.htm 1998. Accessed May 3, 2007.

Publication types