[Internet communication between family physicians and the university hospital]

The potential of electronic communication in medicine is assessed based on an analysis of a pilot project pertaining to internet based communication among referring and hospital physicians. Advantages of electronic data exchange in medicine pertain to speed and capacity for data transfer, availability of data and data integration, ultimately enabling consistent medical case management. Quality requirements of electronic communication of medical data are related to safety, availability, data integration, potential for case management and system qualities. Medical efficiency can be increased by use of electronic communication only if complex functions beyond the substitution of conventional mail by e-mail are implemented and an exhaustive use of the technology can be achieved.