A recent survey reveals that half of American parents would like to be able to communicate with their child's doctor online, and surely many of our readers would also like to have had that opportunity on occasion.
Precisely a few months ago and in subsequent checks of my baby's weight I tried to send the doctor the weight chart that was filling in digital format and, naive of me, and accustomed to this type of communication, I asked the email to his assistant, to which she replied that "The doctor does have email, but does not share it with parents."
I find it hard to understand that someone does not want to provide their email to communicate with the rest of the world, especially when it is so simple to have diverse accounts (if I want to create an account for my friends, another for my work, for patients, colleagues, students ...) and obviously as a complement to another closer communication and direct (inquiries, irreplaceable, or telephone).
In this case, it was simply to show the pediatrician's growth chart before going to his office that same day and before the impossibility of printing it to show it on paper. But it could not be.
And, what if our son presents a problem to which we doubt whether to go to the consultation or not, something that is not urgent? Can not email, along with the phone, be a possible and effective way of communication? And for questions about vaccination, food ...? They are supposed to be the ones to solve them. Do we have to make an appointment for it?
The previous results indicating the parental interest in communicating with the pediatrician online They were collected by the National Survey on Child Health of the CS Mott Children's Hospital (United States), which was held in January of this year, and it involved more than 1600 parents with children up to 17 years of age.
Despite this manifest desire of parents, less than 15% of respondents said they are currently in a position to do so to schedule vaccine appointments, withdraw laboratory results, fill out exam forms, renew prescriptions or seek health advice. .
However, Dr. Matthew Davis, survey director and associate professor of pediatrics and contagious diseases at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, says that
Electronic communication between parents and their children's doctors offers many potential benefits. For administrative tasks that almost all parents need to complete, electronic communication can reduce waste of time and minimize frustration for parents and office staff. As for clinical services, parents often ask questions about whether minor injuries or illnesses merit a visit to the office, and electronic communication offers a way to get advice without having to wait long periods of time.
In the United States, electronic records are being promoted in the health system as a way to improve the efficiency and overall quality of medical care.
However, the team that conducted the survey points out that despite the growing interest in electronic communication between doctors and patients, there are important obstacles. Some are easily understood: the concern of doctors for the responsibility associated with offering health advice by email or other means through the Internet, without examining the patient.
I also find the disadvantage of greater depersonalization and possible misunderstandings of deferred communication. Although to avoid that there are other means on the Internet, such as a live chat even with video (and we also have the phone in this case).
Obviously I agree that an Internet communication should never replace a query. But I do consider that electronic communication can serve to improve communication between doctor and patient, between pediatrician and parents in this case.
