E-mail and Parent/Physician Communication

E-mail exchanges between providers and patients have been cited by the Institute of Medicine as an important part of meeting patients’ communication needs.¹ While e-mail exchange between physicians and their adult patients has been studied,² the purpose of this descriptive study was to analyze e-mail communication between primary care pediatricians and the parents of their patients. In addition, the authors from Boston University and Harvard surveyed participating parents regarding their attitudes toward e-mail exchange as a means of communication with their physician. Fifty-four of the 55 parents who e-mailed 2 pediatricians during the 6-week study period consented to have their e-mails included in the study. Forty-five of the 54 consenting parents (83%) returned the attitudinal …