The Doctor Is in--and Online.

PHYSICIAN & patient; EMAIL; MEDICAL telematics; MEDICINE -- Practice; PHYSICIANS (General practice); KAISER Permanente (Company); HEALTH insurance; DATA protection

The article examines the use of electronic mail messages in communication between physicians and patients. Research is cited on electronic mail messages between patients and physicians in the Kaiser Permanente health care network indicating that patients who used electronic mail messages to communicate with their physicians saved money and had better health outcomes is cited. The relatively small number of general practice physicians who use electronic mail messages to communicate with patients is attributed to medical care finance, as health insurance plans do not allow physicians to bill patients for those communications. Computer security for patient-physician communications is discussed.