Table 3 Attitudes relating to provision of email addresses to patients.
From: Providing cell phone numbers and email addresses to Patients: the physician's perspective
Question | N (%) |
|---|---|
Do you give your email address to patients? | |
To none | 62 (51.7) |
To a small portion of them | 55 (45.8) |
To all those who are interested | 3 (2.5) |
What is your attitude towards providing your work email address to patients? | |
Not prepared to provide it | 52 (43.3) |
Prepared, but only in special cases | 45 (37.5) |
Prepared, but only to some of my patients | 15 (12.5) |
Prepared to give it to all patients | 4 (3.3) |
Prepared even though I think it is unnecessary/I don't use email/it's dangerous and could lead to hacking | 4 (3.3) |
At what times would you agree to answer emails from your patients? | |
Only at pre-determined times | 13 (19.1%) |
At most times (other than weekends and holidays | 49 (72.1%) |
At all times including weekends and holidays | 2 (2.9%) |
When I can | 4 (5.9%) |
What might make you more amenable to providing your cell phone number to patients? (More than one answer possible) | |
Extra pay for the service | 53 (44.2%) |
Allotment of time during work to answer emails | 84 (70.0%) |
Patients are told that there will be a low availability rate | 1 (0.8%) |