Abstract
Purpose :
To characterize if and how ophthalmologists communicate with patients electronically.
Methods :
A survey regarding ophthalmologists’ electronic communication habits with patients was distributed online through an electronic mail (e-mail) listserv. Univariate analysis was performed to examine associations between demographic factors and communication with patients though phone calls and email.
Results :
Of 92 respondents, the average age was 55.2 years old (range: 32-86). Respondents were predominantly male (70.7%) with >10 years of attending experience (81%). Overall, 37% of respondents choose not to provide any contact information to patients, 13% provide e-mail, 22.8% provide a phone number, and 27.2% provide both modes of contact. Reasons for sharing contact information include checking on post-operative patients (63%) or patients with complications (52.2%). Although most respondents (55.4%) do not discuss guidelines for using their personal e-mail or phone number with patients, the majority express little or no regret sharing their contact information (87%). The majority of respondents (75.2%) endorse reimbursement for extra time talking with patients outside of clinic appointments, however only 6.4% bill their calls. Furthermore, documentation habits for communication encounters in the electronic medical record (EMR) are variable, with 44.6% of physicians documenting most of the time and 30.4% rarely documenting. Among physicians with social media accounts, most allow patients to follow their professional (57.6%), but not personal accounts (14.3%).
Conclusions :
Over one-third of attending ophthalmologists do not share email address or phone numbers with patients. Ophthalmologists may share their personal information more frequently for postoperative patients and those with complications. There is widespread support for reimbursements for time spent communicating with patients outside of clinic visits, however, billing and documentation of such encounters are inconsistent.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.