Editor—Pal's personal view on communicating with patients by mobile phone text messaging is a novel insight into how doctors are exploiting new technology to benefit patients.1 It also raises some interesting medicolegal issues.
The Medical Defence Union has received several calls on its medicolegal advice line from members who believe that they can provide a more efficient service to patients by communicating via text messaging and email but have concerns about the legal and ethical considerations.
Our advice is that there is no reason why doctors should not harness new technology to improve care for patients, but that they need to reassure themselves and their patients that the benefits to patients from using text messaging outweigh the draw-backs. They will need to have a system to record the messages themselves, the date and time sent and received, and any action taken. Doctors will also have to take reasonable steps to ensure the proper functioning and maintenance of the mobile phone. Possibly most important of all, they must agree on the vocabulary used to minimise the risk of patients' misreading or misunderstanding the message.
It is also worth remembering that, with text messaging you may know to whom you are sending a message but you may not know for sure where the message you receive comes from. It is encouraging to see that Pal uses a system of code words and other security features to protect patients' confidentiality. We advise doctors who are considering communicating in this way to bear in mind the need to ensure confidentiality of patient information.
Competing interests: None declared.
References
- 1.Pal B. The doctor will text you now: is there a role for the mobile telephone in health care? BMJ 2003;326: 607. (15 March.) [Google Scholar]