1. You are providing a valuable service to your patients in a way that benefits you as well.
 

2. You save time. For example, a patient telephone call takes three to five minutes, but responding to an e-mail question takes less than one minute.
 

3. You stop avoiding patients who take advantage of you. "Since I've got you on the phone doctor. . . ."
 

4. No more phone tag with patients.
 

5. You spend less time dealing with low-priority patient issues freeing your time for more urgent issues.
 

6. Because they can take the time to compose a complete question, patients sometimes tell you things in an e-mail that they will not say in person.
 

7. You can provide or connect your patients to educational material you or others have written.
 

8. Patients can e-mail your staff to schedule appointments, resolve billing problems and so on.
 

9. With a secure e-mail system, you can give test/lab results, refill prescriptions and change medication.
 

10. Your staff can screen and sort your e-mail traffic before you see it.

11. You can inform patients of their scheduled appointments, ask questions and check on their progress.

12. Hearing-impaired patients love it.

13. Patients do not feel guilty or hesitant about taking up your time, especially if you charge for the service.

14. Malpractice risk is reduced as all communication is in writing and can be stored forever. It is not subject to interpretation, alteration or exaggeration.

15. You, your staff and your patients can deal with e-mail when it's convenient, at work or home.

16. You can easily and quickly communicate to all of your patients whenever you like. For example, e-mail newsletters or general announcements.

17. Patients feel you are more accessible to them. They feel better cared for and more likely to remain loyal.

The Ideal E-mail System

Ideally, all your patient communications would be secure and confidential. Only you and your patient could access the messages. The system would comply with the privacy regulations including HIPAA laws (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996).

The ideal system would store each patient's personal data, health information and earlier messages. If the patient wanted a complete on-line consultation, the system would ask and gather all the information you need as part of the process. You would not need to rely on your memory.

The system would allow patients to ask billing questions, schedule appointments, refer patients, refill prescriptions, give lab/test results. It would collect fees on your behalf for your email advice, if you wished. It would allow you to share information securely with the patient's other doctors.

Finally, you would not need to create the system yourself. You could know nothing about computers and still use the service. It would be simple and easy to use for everyone involved.

We searched for the best systems and found three candidates: MD Hub (www.mdhub.com), Medem (www.medem.com) and RelayHealth (www.relayhealth.com).

By far the best system is RelayHealth. It is the only system that meets all the Ideal E-mail System qualities listed above. It's available for all types of healthcare providers. You pay around $600 per year, but the first month is free with no obligation (and no constant ads from pharmaceutical companies).

RelayHealth also gives you great advice of how to introduce the service to your patients. It gives you the option of setting up your own web site, within their system, at no extra fee. It guides you through every step of the process. Check it out: www.relayhealth.com or call 866-735-2963.