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NeedMyDoctor Helps Physicians Offer Online Communications Option to Patients

CHICAGO, May 9 PRNewswire — Years after online communication has become pervasive in most industries, less than one-third of the country's physicians have adopted electronic communication with patients.

The problem, however, is not that doctors do not want to communicate via computer, it's that they need a tool that meets their unique needs — namely a system that can enhance patient-doctor interactions while enabling physicians to maintain or improve their current workflow, according to Joseph Sameh, an entrepreneur and strategic planner with more than 30 years experience in computer, telephone, and communications systems, primarily in the healthcare environment.

The Issue: Recent articles in the media confirm that physicians still have not adopted online communication with patients — despite the fact that most patients would welcome the opportunity to e-mail their doctors.

Many doctors are steering clear of online communication because of the following concerns:

— Increased workload. Doctors fear that responding to e-mail will add one more task to their already over-burdened days. — Patient privacy. Physicians worry that hackers could gain access to sensitive private health information. — Missed urgent messages. Doctors fear that patients will send urgent messages that will sit for hours or even days in an inbox, instead of being answered in a timely manner.

The Solution: NeedMyDoctor, a unique system developed specifically to give patients an online communications option helps to overcome the objections associated with conventional e-mail. With the system in place, patients simply go to their physicians' web sites and click on an online communication link. An encrypted, secure, formatted message is then sent over the Internet and received by an operator at the physician's answering service.

The call center then routes the communication to physicians via pager, phone, fax, or e-mail, depending on the nature of the message and office- approved protocols. The patient receives an immediate electronic response from the patent pending system, telling them their message was received, the action that is being taken, and the time frame in which they will receive a response.

With NeedMyDoctor, urgent communications are handled just as if they had been phoned into the answering service, which makes it possible to quickly respond to all urgent messages. In addition, the physician's work routine remains unaffected, since all messages are routed according to pre-established protocols. Privacy is also protected because communications messages are routed on a secure Web site. In addition, many doctors choose to respond to incoming messages via phone, increasing privacy even more.

Quotes from physician users: "The service makes our practice much more communication friendly," says Ron Kuppersmith, M.D., a College Station, Texas- based ear, nose and throat specialist. "Every patient has different needs in terms of how they want to interact with the practice — whether it is by phone or online. We want to be able to fill those needs for each individual patient. NeedMyDoctor helps us do that by providing a good online, around- the-clock communications option."

"If someone discovers that they need to change or schedule an appointment at 8 p.m., they can send a message right away and not have to concern themselves with remembering to call the next morning, when the demands of the day may take precedence. This simplifies anyone's life when they can address an issue when it arises as opposed to a later time that is less convenient," says Jack Zoldan, M.D., a Chicago-based internist.

Interviews available with: — Joe Sameh, president and CEO of NeedMyDoctor — Physicians who use the NeedMyDcoctor service — Medical group administrators who use the NeedMyDoctor service — Patients who use the NeedMyDoctor service — Call Center managers who use NeedMyDoctor

SOURCE NeedMyDoctor

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