title: Medical online consultation service regarding maxillofacial surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The University Hospital of Zurich provides a medical online consultation service since 1999. Our aim was to characterise the users of an online consultation with queries regarding maxillofacial surgery, to analyse the content of their questions and to study the actions by the internet doctors with the ambition of defining whether the telemedical consultation is a useful tool in this surgical field.
  
  
  METHODS
  The procedure of inductive category development described by MAYRING was used. A professional text analysis program MAXQDA supported the process of analysis. 204 questions were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Men sent 37% of the questions, 48% originated by women, mean age was 38 years. Often they asked for information about medical therapies or pharmaceuticals (n=74) and about specific disease or an injury (n=26). The three most common maxillofacial surgery topics were sinusitis (n=21), aphthae in the mouth (n=17) and basal cell carcinoma (n=14).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Online consultation is not only understood as a first contact with the healthcare system but also as a centre to get professional further and detailed information and advice after a doctor visit, especially about chronic diseases and infections. Online consultation can complement the traditional healthcare and conventional physician-patient relationship in maxillofacial surgery.
authors.affiliation: eHealth, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. christiane.brockes@usz.ch
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brockes
authors.forename: Jan Samuel
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Schenkel
authors.forename: Rachel Neuhaus
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Buehler
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Grätz
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Weitmann
mesh_terms: D022126:Access to Information; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D003376:Counseling; D004358:Drug Therapy; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009862:Online Systems; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D019114:Remote Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000175:diagnosis; D013281:Stomatitis, Aphthous / Q000175:diagnosis; D013515:Surgery, Oral; D013557:Switzerland; D055815:Young Adult