Guidelines on patient-provider communication remain outdated, despite rapid changes in the use of electronic communication technologies like email, according to a study published in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
The researchers — led by Joy L. Lee, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute, both in Indianapolis — identified 11 published guidelines on electronic communication between patients and providers. For each article, they identified and evaluated suggested practices for providers.
The researchers found the primary focus for the guidelines was technical and administrative concerns, rather than on how to ensure effective communication between providers and patients. They also determined many of the guidelines were outdated due to recent changes in the use of technology, and existing guidelines lacked evidence to back up their claims for best practices.
"Further work is needed to systematically evaluate and identify effective practices, create a framework to evaluate quality of communication and assess the relationship between electronic communication and quality of care," the study authors concluded.