1.0Practice Resourceshttps://www.zocdoc.com/resourcesJenny Rockowhttps://www.zocdoc.com/resources/author/jenny-rockowzocdoc-com/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="K0iLRtOgor"><a href="https://www.zocdoc.com/resources/blog/article/office-visits-online/">Doctors, Patients, and Email: Taking the Office Visit Online</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.zocdoc.com/resources/blog/article/office-visits-online/embed/#?secret=K0iLRtOgor" width="600" height="338" title="“Doctors, Patients, and Email: Taking the Office Visit Online” — Practice Resources" data-secret="K0iLRtOgor" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://thescript.wpengine.com/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script> https://thescript.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/1518735528.jpg1200900The subject heading of a recent email correspondence read “beware, graphic picture ahead!!!” Obviously this piqued my curiosity, so, with one eye closed, I scrolled down on my iPhone to a picture of my patient’s tongue, which, truth be told, had a certain “you haven’t seen anything yet quality.” The tongue in question? Maybe some white spots, certainly nothing gruesome, and most assuredly nothing I hadn’t seen before in my 12+ years in clinical practice. My advice to the patient, after confirming through a few back and forth emails that this was not an immediate threat to her, was that she see her dentist and/or primary care doctor for evaluation. If she wasn’t able to book either of them, then, yes, I would be happy to take a look myself. What was remarkable about this exchange was not that a patient was asking for guidance, or for that matter, a diagnosis, about a symptom that drew her concern. Rather, it was that this correspondence did not involve an actual doctor-patient conversation, in the traditional sense of the word. Currently, a little under one third of physicians say they communicate with patients by email, according to Manhattan Research. That said, the practice is far from routine. On the patient side, data from the National Health Interview Survey found that just over five percent of Americans say they email with their doctor. Read more...