Welcome to the Podiatry Arena forums, for communication between foot health professionals about podiatry and related topics.
You are currently viewing our podiatry forum as a guest which gives you limited access to view all podiatry discussions and access our other features. By joining our free global community of Podiatrists and other interested foot health care professionals you will have access to post podiatry topics (answer and ask questions), communicate privately with other members (PM), upload content, view attachments, receive a weekly email update of new discussions, earn CPD points and access many other special features. Registered users do not get displayed the advertisments in posted messages. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our global Podiatry community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.
"Online visits" are getting more common here in NYC but it is still new & mostly utilized by primary care physicians. While some insurance companies are reimbursing for e-mails, many more are requiring a secure mode of transmission (i.e, Relay Health). There is an interesting article about the subject in Medical Economics. Have any podiatrists here utilized relay health or a similar service?
Not a direct answer to your question; but this has just appeared on CNN: No LOL: Doctors don't answer e-mails
Quote:
Suzanne Kreuziger is a registered nurse who uses e-mail almost exclusively to communicate with friends. But when it comes to reaching her doctor, there's a frustrating firewall.
The barrier is her doctor's own reluctance to talk to patients through e-mail.
"It makes sense to me to have the words laid out, to be able to re-read, to go back to it at a convenient time," the 34-year-old Milwaukee woman recently wrote on a social networking site. "If I were able to ask my physician questions this way, it would make my own health care much easier."
Kreuziger's experience is shared by most Americans: They want the convenience of e-mail for non-urgent medical issues, but fewer than a third of U.S. doctors use e-mail to communicate with patients, according to recent physician surveys.
"People are able to file their taxes online, buy and sell household goods, and manage their financial accounts," said Susannah Fox of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "The health care industry seems to be lagging behind other industries."
Doctors have their reasons for not hitting the reply button more often. Some worry it will increase their workload, and most physicians don't get reimbursed for it by insurance companies. Others fear hackers could compromise patient privacy -- even though doctors who do e-mail generally do it through password-protected Web sites.
There are also concerns that patients will send urgent messages that don't get answered promptly. And any snafu raises the specter of legal liability.
Online "visits"
Linear Mode
