I think that the current generation of patients are going to expect their doctors to communicate with them in non-traditional ways. The old days of a face-to-face encounter or a phone call with doctor are slowly fading. People are going to expect emails, tweets, text messages, blog posts, etc... I am not sure how these new forms of communication will be viewed by the legal world. As a doctor I know that nothing takes the place of a good face-to-face encounter with a patient, examining them and reading their facial expressions and mannerisms. These new forms of communications have the potential to cause miscommunications and misunderstanding. If we are going to use these tools, then we just have to realize their limitations. We cannot allow them to take the place of and office visit for more serious issues. But at the same time we must explore them and test them to see what their limitations are. Hopefully the legal community will be lenient during this period of experimentation.

Travis J. Kemp, MD