Running head COMMUNICATION 1 Communication HCS 490 COMMUNICATION 2 Communication Introduction In this paper I will discuss ways in which patients and doctors can communicate one to another I have chosen e mail as a way to communicate This form of communication is widely used over texting medical records and maybe even answering service This form of communication works well with patients who are competent bed bound patients such as high risk pregnancies diabetes and hypertension Many of these patient s other than bed bound will most often work outside of their homes With e mail now assessable on their phones or from work using their desk top computers This gives a more production way to communicate then playing phone tag COMMUNICATION 3 With so many people leading busy lives being able to e mail ones doctor would be great With the advancement in technology and consent form just about anyone can have this service Many doctors have little incentive to e mailing their patients because they do not get paid for it Hence when it comes to quality of care e mails can make a big difference Since doctors are usually busy during their work day This is just another avenue for doctors to communicate without having to talk to the patient or forgetting to make a call to the patient This form of communicating for patients who have chronic conditions and do not wish to stay on line pushing prompts and talking to the receptionist then the nurse and then maybe the doctor before the day is out The passage of federal regulations the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was prompted by the need to ensure privacy and protection of personal records and data in an environment of electronic medical records and third party insurance payers HHS 2010 Hence this is a way to ensure patients that their privacy rights not be violated Therefore when a patient e mails their doctor that information remains private between the doctor and the patient The reason this mode of communication is effective is that the patient him herself is sending it There are no third parties involved and it leaves no room for error This form promotes accuracy and reliability from doctor to patient or patient to doctor This form of communication is easily traceable and becomes part of the patient s permanent record Email is among the largest form of communicating once open one has to respond and emails have signatures It is a COMMUNICATION 4 way to connect one to another without having to wait It s convenient and much faster than sending a fax or paper by mail It is cost effective and does not require paper envelopes or stamps A person can receive an email within seconds rather minutes days Most agree that Face book is the largest social media network In reality the largest social network is still email Hotmail have 375 million active accounts worldwide Yahoo mail is reported at 280mm and Face book only has 200 million but growing Email is the first and largest digital social network and will likely continue this path of domination Owyang 2009 This will change healthcare by leaps and bounds everyone seems to be climbing abroad and welcomes the challenge from the young and old This will improve patient care doctors will be able to review a patient s chart and not have to wait for endless faxes and it will reduce errors Most email vendors are social it seems that the way that they advertise is via email Therefore many vendors use email blogs to see how the public is viewing their products Many people shop online and then write about their experiences with the company As with healthcare most vendors who want to market a product will probably send an email of their product and follow up with a phone call COMMUNICATION 5 Conclusion Email from my perspective is just one of many ways that society communicates However in the health care arena it is very productive and it is cost affective and time consuming for the patient and the doctor We see that this form of communication save times and money by eliminating postal stamps envelopes and paper It is virtually error proof This form of communication works well when the doctor is very familiar with the patient Then the doctor can have the nurse or receptionist respond back to the patient This works well especially for refills or other chronic ailments that the patient may have Another good thing about e mails is that once it is open one can not say they did not receive it COMMUNICATION Reference 6 Owyang J 2009 Email The First Largest Social Network Social Media Retrieved from http www web strategist com blog email the first social network U S Department of Health Human Services 2010 Healthy People 2020 Retrieved from http www hhs gov