Message Deleted? Resolving Physician-Patient E-mail through Contract Law

By Michael A. McCann

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5 Yale J.L. & Tech. 103

This article examines the impact of e-mail on the physician-patient relationship, and how contract law can resolve the uncertainties incumbent in this nascent form of communication. Indeed, courts have yet to indicate when the physician-patient relationship begins by e-mail, or to what extent e-mail affects the duties of the relationship. Instead of waiting for judicial guidance, physicians and patients can employ specialized contracts to clarify the role that e-mail plays in their relationship. As a result, more physicians and patients will regard e-mail correspondence as a valuable means of communication, and a tool for improving the quality of health care as well.