FP Report -- 1999 Post-Assembly Edition
Take the challenge
Make electronic communications part of your daily office routine
Just as the car and the telephone moved family physicians from house calls to office visits, e-mail and electronic medical records will change the way FPs deliver health care in the 21st century, Joseph Scherger, M.D., said in his Assembly lecture about "Family Practice in 2010" Sept. 18 in Orlando, Fla.
"Health care in America is ripe for a radical change in how we deliver it. FPs must seize this communication opportunity to avoid being marginalized in the future," said Scherger, professor and chair of the family medicine department at the University of California-Irvine College of Medicine. He recently became editor-in-chief of Hippocrates magazine.
"I challenge each and every one of you to give your e-mail address to patients when you get home from Assembly," he said. "Ask patients to send you information and updates. If you don't have electronic medical records, then print out the e-mails and store them in the patient's record. Begin a process your patients will appreciate deeply."
Scherger, who communicates with patients daily via e-mail, outlined three enabling factors to move family practice into the new world of health care communication.
Electronic communication and access. Physicians should invest in the proper equipment not only because it will make patient communication easier but also because it will save physicians time in the future. "It takes me an average of 30 seconds to answer an e-mail," Scherger said. "That's time I've invested in my patients, and I've saved some of them from having to arrange an office visit."
Reimbursement. Moving to an electronic care management style might require a prepaid contract with your patient similar to how patients pay for Internet service, but it would free both physicians and patients from being locked into office visits.
Control. Electronic communication can help FPs regain control over how they take care of patients. "We've lost control of our schedules," he said. "We need to be given the latitude and flexibility to style our practices in the way that works best for us and our patients."
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1999 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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