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Oct 2, 2007 7:10 pm US/Eastern
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Study: Patients, Doctors Use Email To Communicate
(KDKA)
Communication between doctors and patients can be difficult, but now some are turning to email as a way to keep in touch.
According to a poll from Harris Interactive, 90 percent of patients say they would like to be able to email their doctor.
A new study from researchers at Children's Hospital has analyzed a two-year span of emails to one department at the hospital, and it turns out that doctors are faster at answering questions over email, and it saves time.
"Most of the time, we're able to answer most of the questions by email," says Dr. Paul Rosen, of Children's Hospital.
Researchers say fewer than one in 20 emails are about urgent problems, and families send 40 percent of their messages outside of normal business hours.
Also, a survey of the parents in the study shows four out of five families were happy with this kind of communication.
However, statistics show only 10 to 30 percent of doctors use email.
Doctors also say email is not for emergencies or for scheduling appointments, and there's always the potential for hackers to get your personal health information.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)