The emergence of online patient-provider communications

Concurrent with the growing popularity and utilization of the Internet, patients and health care providers are using electronic mail and other online messaging tools to communicate with each other. This dissertation explores the characteristics of the online physician and consumer and the demand for, obstacles to and opportunities for the use of online patient-provider communication systems. The various types of systems in use are delineated along with a detailed profile of a particular online healthcare communications system and its features.; A quantitative analysis of the de-identified and anonymous characteristics and factors predicting utilization for over 4,000 patients and 400 physicians who used this system over a sixteen-month period is presented from the patient and provider perspective. This is the first published research to examine the behavior of a large sample of patients and providers communicating online. The research demonstrates that compensation for online consultations from either the patient or their health insurance carrier is critical to provider adoption. It also shows that health care providers will not be inundated with email communications if they give out their electronic address. In addition, patients are willing to pay for online consultations and are more likely to have high system utilization if they receive prescriptions from their healthcare provider online. While more research is needed, this dissertation reinforces that there is a demand for these services, that there are clear factors effecting utilization and that there is a potential for improved quality of care and increased access to research data.