Published online October 1, 2004
PEDIATRICS Vol. 114 No. 4 October 2004, pp. 988-991 (doi:10.1542/peds.2004-0015)

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Web of Science (6) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Goldman, R. D. Articles by Mounstephen, W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Goldman, R. D. Articles by Mounstephen, W. Related Collections Office Practice Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Follow-up After a Pediatric Emergency Department Visit: Telephone Versus E-Mail?

Ran D. Goldman, MD, Shruti Mehrotra, BSc, Tanya R. Pinto, BSc and William Mounstephen, MD, FRCP(C), FAAP

From the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Population Health Sciences, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Objective.The Internet has become in recent years an unlimited source of health-related information and revolutionized health information access. Follow-up after an emergency department (ED) visit is important for continuity of care but is difficult to achieve. We conducted this study to determine whether e-mail could become a method for a follow-up contact after leaving the pediatric ED.

Methods.Over a 2-month period, parents who had a telephone line and e-mail access and whose child was discharged from the ED at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto were randomized to receive an e-mail or a telephone follow-up. Main outcome measure was the response rates by parents to the telephone or e-mail.

Results.A total of 265 (79%) of the 337 families who were approached had Internet access, and the majority (75%) check e-mails at least once a day. Eighty-seven percent (85 of 98) and 53% (53 of 100) of the families who were contacted by telephone or e-mail, respectively, were reached within an average of 17 and 46 hours, respectively. Fourteen percent of families from the study population were unreachable either by telephone or by e-mail. Most (57%) parents who did not respond to the e-mail did not check or did not remember reading the e-mail or had trouble with access. Ten percent of the e-mails were undeliverable.

Conclusions.The telephone is better than e-mail as a follow-up channel with families of children who visit the pediatric ED. The main reason for not responding to e-mails is "technical problems." E-mail could be a mean for follow-up contact for part of our patient population, especially for nonurgent purposes.

---

Key Words: emergency • Internet • follow-up • e-mail

Abbreviations: ED, emergency department

---

Accepted Mar 17, 2004.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Wallwiener, C. W. Wallwiener, J. K. Kansy, H. Seeger, and T. K. Rajab Impact of electronic messaging on the patient-physician interaction J Telemed Telecare, July 1, 2009; 15(5): 243 - 250. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. D. Racine, E. M. Alderman, and J. R. Avner Effect of Telephone Calls From Primary Care Practices on Follow-up Visits After Pediatric Emergency Department Visits: Evidence From the Pediatric Emergency Department Links to Primary Care (PEDLPC) Randomized Controlled Trial Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, June 1, 2009; 163(6): 505 - 511. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Section on Telephone Care and Committee on Child Health Financing Payment for Telephone Care Pediatrics, October 1, 2006; 118(4): 1768 - 1773. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]