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Welcome to the Mohawk Valley's health information
portal
E-mail
medical counseling grows
Sept. 30, 20002
By
Jan Jarvis
Knight
Ridder Newspapers
FORT
WORTH, Texas — Dr. Daniel Suez makes at least a
dozen house calls a day, without ever leaving his office.
E-mail makes it possible.
“It’s
the best way to promote good medicine,” the Irving,
Texas, allergist said. “It’s a wonderful tool.”
Many doctors have been reluctant to hang their shingle
at a virtual office because of privacy concerns, but
more and more are turning to technology to improve the
way they practice medicine. At the click of a mouse,
they’re checking lab results and answering patients’
questions about everything from earaches to ingrown
toenails. The service, sometimes free, other times costing
$25 or more, is generally not covered by insurance companies.
Physicians are, however, quick to warn patients that
e-mail was never intended for emergencies or complex
health problems.
“You’ll
never see someone with chest pains e-mailing their doctor,”
said Dr. Edward Fotsch, chief executive officer for
Medem, a San Francisco-based e-health network founded
by the American Medical Association and other national
medical societies.
An AMA study released last month found that 78 percent
of physicians use cyberspace. About 25 percent of physicians
send e-mail to and receive e-mail from patients; three
of 10 using the Internet have their own Web sites.
“Five
years from now, I don’t think a physician will be able
to run an office without online consulting, anymore
than they can run an office now without a fax,” Fotsch
said. “I think patients are way past ready for it.”
David Muntz, chief information officer for the nonprofit
health-care system Texas Health Resources, said he believes
technology can minimize administrative hassles and free
doctors to spend more time with their patients.
Named one of the most wired health-care systems by the
American Hospital Association, THR uses Web sites and
online technology to serve patients through Harris Methodist
Hospitals in Tarrant County, Arlington Memorial and
Presbyterian Healthcare hospitals in Dallas.
“I
have great hope that it will actually promote the patient-physician
relationship and give physicians back the time they
need,” Muntz said.
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