Can e-mail messages between patients and physicians be patient-centered?

Area of Science:

• Health Communication
• Medical Informatics
• Digital Health

Background:

• Traditional doctor-patient communication relies on in-person dialogue.
• The rise of email necessitates understanding its role in medical communication.
• Existing research often focuses on information exchange, overlooking relational aspects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze how email communication between patients and physicians compares to traditional medical dialogue.
• To assess the fulfillment of communication functions (informational, emotional, partnership-building) in patient-physician emails.
• To evaluate the potential of email to support the doctor-patient relationship.

Main Methods:

• Collected 74 email messages (40 patient, 34 physician) from 8 volunteers.
• Coded messages using the Roter Interactive Analysis System.
• Compared email communication dynamics to face-to-face interactions.

Main Results:

• Physician emails were significantly shorter and more direct than patient emails.
• Both parties dedicated substantial portions of communication to information exchange.
• Significant communication was also dedicated to emotional expression/response and building therapeutic partnerships, similar to in-person visits.

Conclusions:

• Email effectively accomplishes informational tasks in the doctor-patient relationship.
• Email serves as a valuable medium for emotional support and fostering partnership.
• Physician use of email can be patient-centered, supporting the overall relationship and allowing patients to express concerns.