Would you like your doctor’s email address?
By Irwin Lim, Rheumatologist
Listed on my business card are many ways to contact me.
There’s the usual address, land line number and fax number. Of course, our website address is there.
6 months ago, when we redesigned the card, we decided to include BJC Health’s social media links so our facebook page, twitter handle & this blogsite address feature.
A more contentious decision was whether to include my email address. In Australia at least, this is just not the norm. I did have an uneasy feeling about this and some fear about being bombarded with emails from patients. Justified or not, that’s a fear shared by many of my colleagues.
My email address now features on the back of my business card. This is the same side on which every patient’s next appointment is written. This business card is given to every patient I see, every day. That works out to be a lot of patients with access to my direct email address.
And patients are encouraged to contact me with their worries. My patients often ring for results, for reassurance, to tell me about possible side effects, and a multitude of other things, some potentially life -threatening & some relatively trivial.
It’s been 6 months. I can only remember receiving 3-4 emails from patients in that time.
That’s neither good or bad. It’s just surprising to me. What do you think?
Dr Irwin Lim is a rheumatologist and a director of BJC Health.
BJC Health provides a connected care multidisciplinary team philosophy to deliver positive lifestyle outcomes through a holistic approach to those with degenerative & inflammatory arthritis, tendon injury and lifestyle diseases. Our clinics are located in Parramatta, Chatswood and Brookvale. Contact us.
This blog focuses on arthritis-related diseases, healthcare in general, and our Connected Care philosophy.
That’s a very small rate of contact, given the ease of which this is made. Interestingly, I frequently give my mobile telephone number to my patients, and I experience a similarly small frequency of being contacted by this means. From my previous experience, I am more than happy to offer multiple methods to contact me. And despite encouragement to my patients to contact me if needed, I find that this rarely happens. Importantly, when this does occur, the patient is always very appreciative and I am grateful for the opportunity to assess their progress.
i wish more doctors were available through email and can’t wait until email availability becomes the norm. unfortunately, i have multiple medical issues and although i see an internist and several specialists regularly, none of them, to my knowledge, offers any service through email – not even so much as a prescription refill. i find this frustrating and, frankly, see it as a strategy to dodge accountability to patients.
I have email address’s for my GP and Naturopathic doctor, but not my Rheumatologist. I consider it a privilege since doctors are already overwhelmed with work, and would not abuse this. I only email if there are no other means to solving my questions or concerns. That has only been a few times. I can understand the fear to give this to patients, as there are always some that will abuse the privilege. I say good going Doc!
This is a very interesting topic Irwin.
I too give my mobile number to some patients and they always treat it with great respect. I don’t remember a time when I felt someone used it inappropriately.
I do have concerns about giving my email address out, not because of overuse by patients but rather the timeliness of responses I can give. I dont have access to my email all the time as I work part time and have consciously decided not to have email on my phone (a little attempt of mine at practicing mindfulness!) I would worry that patients may email me with information that needed to be dealt with urgently and I may not get to it in an appropriate time frame.
I like to think that I am accessible to my patients. My receptions know they can call me if someone really needs to talk to me. I also work in a group practice where a colleague can cover for urgent events. I know these strategies are possibly not as efficient for my patients or staff as dealing with me directly via email but on balance it works for me.
Thanks Maryanne. I use email only because I have very ready access to it. If it’s urgent, my patients just call the practice. The email, I think, would be used for non-urgent questions/concerns & this would be more convenient for me, as I can consider the response & write back at a quieter time. Also, saves on the phone-tag that I find I’m often engaged in. But, as I wrote, I’m surprised that it’s been hardly used.
I have the email for the NP at my rheumatologist’s office. It’s been very helpful lately. It’s hard sometimes for me to remember all the things I want to go over if I make a phone call, especially if the office is busy. I figure it helps save those on the phones from dealing with notes and messages, and it helps me to understand where the NP and my rheumy are coming from. I can also share, again, a lot more information I think in an email than a phone call, including sending pictures if there are side effects I’m worried about or links to other illnesses that I’m worried about.
I also happen to be an individual that hates making phone calls, so email just works better for me. Obviously, if there was a big issue I would call. But I’ve found it usually takes about 3 days and 3 calls back and forth to get a real response there. Emails I usually wait one or two days and it comes right from the source. I’ve had messages mixed up or not written down correctly, so I like being the one communicating.
Rambling answer? I think so. But in short, I love having the email and I think it’s super useful.
Thanks for the insight Kirsten. I like when patients email me rather than ring. If they ring, usually I’m with another patient and then the game of phone tag begins. Lots of wasted time. With an email, a picture is very useful especially with rashes. I can give a quick reply but if I’m worried, I can just shoot a quick email/task to our admin staff to arrange an urgent appointment.