title: Enhancing doctor-patient communication using email: a pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The doctor-patient relationship has been eroded by many factors. Would e-mail enhance communication and address some of the barriers inherent to our medical practices?
  
  
  METHODS
  Of our study population, 4 physicians offered e-mail communication to participating patients and 4 did not. Both patients and physicians completed questionnaires regarding satisfaction, perceived quality, convenience, and promptness of the communication.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patient satisfaction significantly increased in the e-mail group compared with the control group in the areas of convenience (P < .0001) and the amount of time spent contacting their physician (P < .0001). Physician satisfaction in the e-mail group increased regarding convenience, amount of time spent on messages, and volume of messages. The response time was longer with e-mail. When asked if patients should be able to e-mail their physicians, most patients in the e-mail group and all but 2 of the physicians in the non-e-mail group responded "yes."
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  E-mail communication was found to be a more convenient form of communication. Satisfaction by both patients and physicians improved in the e-mail group. The volume of messages and the time spent answering messages for the e-mail group physicians was not increased. E-mail has the potential to improve the doctor-patient relationship as a result of better communication.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Family and Community Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA. sleong@psu.edu
authors.forename: Shou Ling
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gingrich
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Mauger
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: George
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003219:Confidentiality; D034742:Electronic Mail / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000639:trends; D008875:Middle Aged; D009817:Office Management / Q000639:trends; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires