Becker's Healthcare July 25, 2024
It’s easy for physicians to show empathy with nonverbal cues during in-person or even video visits. But how can clinicians illustrate how much they care during asynchronous message exchanges?
It’s a question physicians have been asking as they increasingly turn to messaging as a form of healthcare, with some health systems even charging for interactions through patient portals like MyChart.
To show “digital empathy,” physicians can start by acknowledging the messages promptly, according to Matthew Sakumoto, MD, chief medical information officer of Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health’s West Bay Region in San Francisco.
“We’re doing a lot of work behind the scenes, but the patient doesn’t realize it,” Dr. Sakumoto said at an American Medical Association webinar covered in a July...