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E-mail communications in family practice: what do patients expect?
G R Couchman1, S N Forjuoh, T G Rascoe
1Department of Family & Community Medicine, Scott & White Memorial Hospital, and Scott, Sherwood and Brindley Foundation, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine, Temple 76504, USA. gcouchaman@swmail.sw.org
The Journal of Family Practice
|May 15, 2001
Summary
Most patients in Texas family practice clinics have email access and want to use it for refills and results. They expect quick responses, highlighting a need for efficient electronic health communication.
Area of Science:
- Health Informatics
- Patient-Provider Communication
- Digital Health Adoption
Background:
- Growing interest in utilizing email for healthcare communication.
- Need to understand patient adoption and expectations for digital health tools.
Purpose of the Study:
- Determine patient email access proportion in family practice settings.
- Assess patient willingness to use email for healthcare interactions.
- Evaluate patient expectations for email response times.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional, in-person prevalence survey.
- Surveyed 950 patients across 6 family practice clinics in central Texas.
- Measured email access, usage willingness, and response time expectations.
Main Results:
- 54.3% of patients reported email access, with clinic-level variation (33%-75%).
- High demand for email use for prescription refills (90%), consultations (87%), and lab results (84%).
- Patients expect rapid responses, with over 74% desiring lab results within 24 hours.
Conclusions:
- A majority of family practice patients in central Texas possess email access and desire its use for common healthcare tasks.
- Patients exhibit high expectations for timely responses to electronic health communications.
- Findings support the integration of email for efficient patient-provider communication in primary care.
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