1997 Partnerships for Networked Consumer Health Information Conference

Summaries of Plenary Sessions and Breakout Sessions

Tools and Toolboxes #1: Provider-Patient Email

Wednesday, April 16, 1997
9:30-11:00 AM

Moderator: Larry Pfisterer, MSSM, RRA, Supervisor of Outpatient Records, Group Health Cooperative

Respondent: Karen Sarpolis, MD, MBA, President /Medical Director, A Forum for Women's Health, GenneX Healthcare Technologies, Inc., "Bringing Value to Consumers and Payors While Guarding Security"

Respondent: Paul Ford, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, "Patient-Physician Electronic Mail Exchange in the Generalist Practice"

Respondent: Paul Hattis, MD, JD, MPH, Community Care Network Fellow, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston MA, "Legal Duties of Provider-Patient E-Mail"

Statement of the Subject

To examine the utility of provider-patient communication by electronic mail. What forms does it take? Who benefits? What potential pitfalls? Technology issues?

Key Issues

• Maintaining patient confidentiality - protecting privacy and obtaining informed consent to the use of current e-mail technology. Managing workflow - online triage or direct contact? How is e-mail contact credited/compensated?
• Establishing and maintaining standards of timeliness, accuracy and proper documentation. Integrating e-mail with a future CPR.
• Liability for unintentional disclosure and license issues between states.
• Will coming technology provide new tools to improve ease-of-use and security of e-mail at low or no additional cost to consumers?

Roles, Responsibilities, and Priorities

Will increasing computer and Internet use trigger a growing demand from technically sophisticated consumers for another means of communicating with their providers? How will health care organizations fulfill this demand while meeting the two imperatives of confidentiality and cost-effectiveness? How can e-mail benefit providers, patients and payors? Improvements in ease-of-use and security are needed so that the less technically adept can communicate with their provider without risk to privacy.

Next Steps

The Internet Working Group, American Medical Informatics Association is developing draft guidelines for provider-patient electronic mail.

A number of software vendors are developing applications to facilitate secure transactions on the Internet.

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