Patients with diabetes who kept in touch with their doctors through email had better control of their diabetes or hypertension, or both, than did matched patients who did not have such contact, shows an analysis of medical records at Kaiser Permanente, a large integrated healthcare system in the United States. The study was published in the July issue of Health Affairs (2010;29:1370-5, doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0048).

Surveys have shown that US patients want to be able to exchange emails with their doctor in a way that protects the confidentiality of their electronic medical records. Kaiser Permanente built that capacity into the electronic records system of its regional affiliates and introduced it …