How Electronic Messaging Has Improved My Asthma Care

For many years, I could only gaze upon doctors who used technology to communicate with their patients between visits with envy. While I can only communicate with 3 of my doctors via e-mail or message, it has facilitated a huge improvement in my care as a patient who sees multiple specialists.

While my asthma doctor does not yet have email, it has been great to be able to send a quick message off to my family doctor when questions come up (at this point, those are usually non-asthma related!) or I need a prescription refilled. It's particularly nice because I hate the phone, and I never know what level of detail I need to provide receptionists given my often complicated health situations!

Electronic medical records, email, and...revenge of the fax?

My family doctor and one of my gynecologists use the same EMR (electronic medical records) platform. By default, the EMR platform does not actually enable sending messages - only if the doctor first sends a message and leaves the thread open to reply. This is why I have been sending everything to a thread called "Foot Care" that my doctor left open in November 2021, 3 months after I began seeing him.

Funny, however, he has sent everything since to this same thread, as well. This thread includes a lot of topics. I have requested a Qvar refill to a new pharmacy when my pharmacy would not get any in for a week, a question about a drug interaction (the pharmacy had put me on hold for 35 minutes and I was over it!), blood work and other requests, and in return he has sent me x-ray and blood work results, updates on referrals, questions for paperwork, and so on—saving us both a lot of time, or allowing him to follow-up during non-standard office hours when many doctors seem to do paperwork.

Additionally, my initial gynecologist has a thread simply called "update me" which facilitated a referral when I did not respond to initial treatment, and where I have popped in with other questions I did not feel warranted an office visit. I have to love that evergreen title, as well!

My other gynecologist uses email, and gave me her card on my first visit. I am not sure if this is something she does across the board or because I have had a weird/mysterious situation from the get-go, but its been useful when I have been unclear about medication instructions and have had questions about tests, or if I should be seeing her about something, or waiting til follow-up.

For the doctors that do not have messaging or email, as a person who hates the phone, I will sometimes resort to fax if I am not getting return calls, or if I need something specific or complex. I have written about this before and it works surprisingly well, especially at my respirologist's office! This is really, in a sense, me trying to get revenge on the medical system by still being so reliant on fax and using it to my advantage!

Using electronic messaging with doctors in my asthma care

For me, I have found electronic messaging really key where it comes to managing medications and refilling prescriptions, or requesting things like a prescription for a new AeroChamber. If it is a simple request, messaging is a good way to go.

If it is something complex, such as a medication change discussion, non-minor side-effects, or involves symptoms that may need examination (including asthma flares) it has always best to book a visit or call the clinic for advice before booking. In an upcoming article, I will share more of my tips for electronic communication with your healthcare team.

I feel that quick, between-appointments electronic communication like e-mail and messaging can be game-changing for many with asthma and other chronic illnesses if used effectively by both the healthcare provider and patient.

Have you found electronic messages, emails, or phone calls with your doctors between asthma appointments to be helpful? Share your experience with the community by clicking the button below.