E mail Doctors

Guess what's the latest in office visits for patients needing to see a doctor? It's not the traditional appointment in the doctor's office. And certainly not the old house calls made by the physician. It's E mail medicine.
That's right. In a move to improve efficiency and control costs, health plans and medical groups here in the United States are beginning to pay doctors to reply to E mail, just as they pay them when a patient visits in person.
For some time now, some doctors have been willing to communicate with E mail, but never before have insurance companies paid the physician's patient's "E mail visits". I can testify that it sounds a great deal better for minor medical questions than trying to telephone a doctor, managing to weed through endless idiotic phone messages to finally contact a "live person", leaving a message and waiting all day for the doctor to return the call.
As it stands now, many health insurance plans are paying doctors $25 per E mail response (because it is cheaper than paying the higher office visit bill a patient would incur if he or she met the doctor in person) and the patient pays a small (usually $5 to $10) co payment for the contact.
Too, it is convenient for doctors to use for questions about post surgical care, diet, changing medications, contacting patients with chronic problems that need constant attention but not regular office visits, and other topics that can be handles safely and promptly without the necessity of an office visit.
Further, by reducing the number of office visits the doctor can spend more time with patients he or she sees in office. For patients, E mail doctoring allows them to send their messages from home or at work without having to miss work time or other obligations, or having to spend time wasted in a doctor's waiting room. Also, the patient can use E mail contacts with the physician to receive X ray and other test results and to request prescriptions on-line.