title: Successful practices in the use of secure e-mail.
abstract: Physician use of secure e-mail with patients is anticipated to increase under Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements, but little is known about how physicians can successfully incorporate it into daily work. We interviewed 27 "super user" physicians at Kaiser Permanente and Group Health who were identified by leaders as being technologically, operationally, and clinically adept and as having high levels of secure e-mail use with patients. They highly valued the use of secure e-mail with patients, despite concerns about a lack of adequate time to respond, and provided tips for using it successfully. They identified benefits that included better care and improved relationships with their patients.
authors.affiliation: Director of Strategic Optimization for the Health Information Technology Transformation and Analytics Department for Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA. laura.w.johnson@kp.org.
authors.forename: Laura W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Vice President of Health Information Technology Transformation and Analytics in National Quality for Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA. terhilda.garrido@kp.org.
authors.forename: Terhilda
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Garrido
authors.affiliation: Former Medical Director for the Internet Services Group of Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA. katethamina@live.com.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Medical Director for Quality for Group Health and a Primary Care Physician in Seattle, WA. handley.m@ghc.org.
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Handley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002140:California; D034742:Electronic Mail; D005194:Family Practice / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017748:Time Management; D057188:Workflow