An E-mail Service in a Military Adolescent Medicine Clinic: will teens use it and what for?

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An E-mail Service in a Military Adolescent Medicine Clinic: will teens use it and what for? 

Journal Title: Internet Journal of Medical Update - Year 2014, Vol 9, Issue 1

Abstract

The goal of this study was to determine utilization patterns of an Adolescent Medicine Clinic e-mail service. An e-mail service was offered to 6134 patients presenting for care to a military Adolescent Medicine Clinic in San Antonio, Texas over a 6-month period. Families had to complete an authorization form acknowledging that the e-mail service was not encrypted and was not to be used for emergent issues prior to use. 482 families signed up for the service. A total of 42 e-mails were received from 28 of these families. 75% of all e-mails were initiated by parents. The majority of e-mails were administrative issues including: medication refills, lab follow up, and referrals requests. In conclusion, the e-mail service was a low cost method to increase communication options for our patients that was not associated with a large increase in clinic workload because of low utilization rates, especially among younger adolescents. 

Authors and Affiliations

Amy Thompson, John Campagna, Belinda Hernandez, Timothy Roberts

Keywords

EP ID EP99232
DOI -
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