E-mail consultations: Two years' experience from asthma information websites

Citation

Neville RG, Warner FC, McCowan C & Hoskins G (2000) E-mail consultations: Two years' experience from asthma information websites. British Journal of General Practice, 50 (452), pp. 256-257. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1313672/pdf/brjgenprac005045200249.pdf

Abstract
First paragraph: Patients and health care professionals communicate in a variety of ways, including face-to-face contact, telephone calls, and letters. E-mail has become a standard communication medium in academia and commerce, and yet its use within health care has received little attention. E-mail has advantages to patients in terms of speed, cost, and convenience. Health professionals appreciate the convenience of a medium free of time zone constraints, office hours restrictions, and with a facility to record precisely what was said, and by whom. Fears about confidentiality, concerns about issuing inaccurate advice, worries that anything imported from America is associated with litigation, and unfamiliarity with a new medium have delayed the widespread usage of e-mail in United Kingdom general practice.

Journal
British Journal of General Practice: Volume 50, Issue 452