Nice article in Freep.com on Michigan doctors embracing electronic communications as tool in their delivery of care:
In a glimpse at how the practice of medicine is changing, Michigan’s doctor practices are adding electronic programs to cut telephone tag and unnecessary office visits for routine health questions, prescription refills, lab results and appointment requests.
Patients also can create personal electronic health accounts where they can store important medical records or get information about a health issue e-mailed to them.
And more doctors are dispensing medical advice through an eVisit — a mouse call, as some call the pared-down, technology version of a house call. It describes a range of medical advice, sometimes a running dialogue, in which a doctor can monitor how a person is managing a chronic health issue or an immediate non-urgent condition.
“I’m totally sold on how useful it is,” said Dr. Barbara Saul, a family medicine doctor at the Henry Ford Health System’s Troy center and one of the leaders in the concept. Read more…
Great implications for rural here. We’re starting to realize that not all provider communication is equal – some times you need to sit down with a provider, and sometimes you only need to check in – “is it worth coming in for ___?” The article begins what might be a growing list of provider connections that can be handled without travel or waiting rooms – and this is very important when your provider is in the next town.
