Although providers have been slow to adopt email as a mode of communication with patients because of HIPAA, privacy, and other reasons, that may soon be changing. Patients will come to expect providers to be electronically enabled, including the millions of retiring baby boomers. It is simply the way a large section of the population communicates, and healthcare providers can no longer afford to be the last of the Luddites. Those that refuse to engage will likely be at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, giving the "data sharing imperatives" acknowledged by the IOM and others, providers may soon be required to collaborate with patients, colleagues, and other stakeholders via non-traditional methods.
Engaging with patients and families is now part of HITECH's "meaningful use" use definition. Google Apps is potentially one Internet based method that can be to engage patients. It provides Gmail as a "branded" cloud-based and inexpensive (free and/or low cost depending on the option) email and collaboration solution using your practice's Internet domain name. All emails related to a specific patient can be tagged with a patient identifier for instant "findability." In addition, Gmail's out-of-the-box search functionality can be used to find messages even when not tagged. Email will not be the only collaborative communications platform used by providers, but it will certainly be a core component. Google Apps, via it Sites feature, allows providers to readily build Intranets for hosting all sorts of internal information, including their compliance polices.
To see how Genentech and others are using Google Apps for email and collaboration click here.
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