Doctor/patient messaging is taking off

Doctor/patient messaging is taking offThe Orlando Sentinel reports on the growing popularity of webVisits as a substitute for certain nonurgent office visits. It's been a long time coming, but now doctors and patients are growing to understand the value of the service.

"[E]very single comment we've had [from patients] has been positive and thankful," [Florida's Dr.] Batson said. "From a business perspective, if you have happy patients, it will have a positive spin financially in the long run.""More Web visits will be a thing of reality," said Batson, who typically does seven or eight online consultations a week with patients, with the average consult taking 10 minutes. "It behooves most physicians to at least be open to the concept."

This progress is particularly heartening to me. I've been involved for five years as a consultant to RelayHealth, the dominant provider of webVisit services, and it's nice to see them succeeding.