Electronic Health Records For Dummies

Deciding what to share

You have to determine what kind of information you want to share with your patients. What you want your patients to know can drive your selection of delivery method. For example, you probably wouldn’t want to deliver sensitive test results via instant message. IM may be fine for casual administrative reminders (“Hey! Your appointment is tomorrow!”), but not for telling a patient she has cancer. Take care to set parameters for the types of information you communicate in electronic form.

Table 15-1 gives you a view of potential patient communication topics.

Table 15-1 Possible Patient Communication Topics
Administrative Needs and Tasks	Prescriptions	Clinical Issues	Caregiver Questions and Concerns
Appointment reminders	Reminders	Lab tests or diagnostic results that aren’t life threatening	Communication with parents about child’s healthcare needs, immunizations, and appointments
Registration	Refills	Immunization records and updates	Communication with adult children caring for an elderly parent (as long as consent is provided)
Billing issues or questions	Drug event or allergy questions	Allergy questions or recommendations	Educational materials
Insurance claims	Drug interaction updates	Action required after test results	Diagnosis-specific information
Coverage denials	Patient questions about medication instructions	Tracking of recurring test results
Requests for information	Co-pays and coverage ...