Email has a ton of great uses. But the best so far? Emailing your doctor. The world of online appointment scheduling and emailing my doctor has just arrived in my corner of the world. I don't just like it, I LOVE it. A person always feels their worst on the weekend or at night when the office is closed. To be able to log in and see if there is an appointment available for the next business day is consoling. To be able to log in and send an email saying, "This is my deal. Call me back." is even better.
Yes, yes. One can call and be on terminal hold until someone answers and tells you there isn't anything available for a week -- oh, but you feel really bad? Let me leave a message with your doctor's office. Then you wait for the doctor to call you back. This way, it goes right to the doctor -- or, rather, his nurse and she takes care of calling you back and doing what needs to be done while you do the other things that need to get done when you aren't feeling well -- like sleeping or those urgent work emails.
Sunday, February 17, 4:15pm: E-Mailed Dr: Here's my problem. I'm going out of town for a week. Any way you can beam a prescription to my pharmacy before I have to leave town on Monday afternoon? If you can't get it to them before I leave, this is where I'm staying and this is the closest pharmacy.
All the information is there -- no rolling my eyes while the nurse has to write it all down. I'm sure she appreciates not having to write it all down, too.
Monday, February 18, 2:26pm (which is about the same time I would have heard back if I would have called and sat on hold and then been transferred to talk to the nurse): Call back from Dr.'s Nurse. I talked with the doctor. We didn't get the prescription to your local pharmacy in time. We're calling the one you gave us the info for in your email. Also consider 800mgs of ibuprofen for this matter.
Monday, February 18, 4:07pm: Prescription in hand. Problem going to go away this week instead of next week.
Bing. Bam. Boom. Best use of email.
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