SoNH-PAC Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Hello everyone, I'm fairly new to the forum, but I wanted to see if I could get the opinions of some of my peers on an up and coming change in how we practice. Have you guys started email visits? As a recent grad, I feel like I rely on physical exam and interaction with the patient a lot. It's easier to decide sick or not sick with them sitting in front of you. Have any of you all begun using email visits? What is the general feeling about this becoming more widespread? Is this already being used commonly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted December 2, 2013 Administrator Share Posted December 2, 2013 Email interactions--patient questions, provider follow-ups? Absolutely time savers. Email visits, where I am expected to diagnose and treat without seeing the patient? Not interested. What makes the above email interactions tolerable is my ability to say "You should be seen by a provider; please schedule an appointment" (or come into urgent care, or go directly to the ER...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted December 2, 2013 Moderator Share Posted December 2, 2013 side note email is not considered a secure mode of communication unless you have SECURE email...... HIPPA and all that..... You can not just use your Yahoo or Google account (and if you did and billed for it I think you would be setting yourself up for getting in trouble) I LOVE email with patients, and texting too. BUT I am very limited in what I can do due to privacy issues (hopefully my EMR (practice fusion)) comes out with a solution soon. As for having an actual billable encounter with it.... heck yes, I paid for 15 minutes of time every time I email my attorney (at something like $250/hour) so why should we not also be able to do this. I would have a VERY low threshold for having an inperson visit and (liability and all) and would want a copy of the entire email thread entered into their chart. IE is it a simple UTI or an impending ectopic..... patient has to clearly state no abd pain and ZERO percent risk of pregnancy..... just thinking what a trial lawyer would do..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted December 3, 2013 Administrator Share Posted December 3, 2013 email is not considered a secure mode of communication unless you have SECURE email...... Agreed. The 'email' I talk about is a web-based, SSL-encrypted application that integrates with EPIC. The only email that's generated is a "you have a new message from your provider..." notification, which has no medical information whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 3, 2013 Moderator Share Posted December 3, 2013 ok sir, that looks like a nasty laceration. I sent you an email with the specs for a suture kit for your 3d printer. I will walk you through this. sorry, no 3d lidocaine yet....:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoNH-PAC Posted December 4, 2013 Author Share Posted December 4, 2013 The "email" I was referring to is similar to rev ronin -- would be secure through EPIC. Through the EMR I also can get patient questions where they send me questions via a secure link through the patient portal. I agree that answering patient questions via email is a time efficient way of getting back to patients. Email visits would involve diagnosis and treatment though. EMEDPA that is funny! Obviously that type of visit would be less than helpful in an emergency setting haha. The other component is that they are billable, but not necessarily in your schedule, so finding the time to be thorough and respond could potentially be above and beyond the normal patient load for a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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