OP, I doubt it's anything to worry about, but I don't blame you for being suspicious of this doctor. Every doc I've had has refused to give out an email address.
Think about how much the doctor stands to lose if he uses that email for anything other than professional communication regarding the well-being of your daughter. His license to practice medicine, his career, his life savings, his family (if he has one). I doubt he would go after one of the patients as it is one of the very first "no-nos" they stressed to us in medical school. I understand it may seem odd, but there has been a newfound emphasis on patient communication in medicine, especially when it comes to pediatrics. You have nothing to worry about!
Yeah this is probably no big deal and the OP is overreacting. However, I do think there are more appropriate and professional methods to ask a patient for his or her email address or any other contact information. Normally when you see a new doctor or specialist for the first time, you have to fill out some forms prior to the appointment, whether by paper or electronic. An optional request for an email address should probably be part of those forms.
appreciate the insight. As I said I just didn't know if this was appropriate or not and by the sound of it it's just not that big of a deal. I have no insecurities with this at all. I just didn't know if this was professionally acceptable for a DR to do this. Especially when no other DR has ever done this with us or me personally. I've had plenty of DR's who have had their staff follow up to see how things were going and to answer any questions but never the DR personally. This is men and women Drs. This concerns my daughter so I think I'll have my wife include me in on any emails he may want to send her.
You know what is also important for you to consider? When your wife told you, in what way did she tell you? "OMG OMG OMG, I'm so happy! Our Doctor asked me for my email! :grin: Yippee!" or "Hey. We need to talk. It's serious. The doctor asked me for my email. My email. Yes." or "Hahahahhahahaha... you know what? Our doctor asked me if he could have my email LOLLOLOLOLOLOL, loser." Which way? Also, what did you answer?
So.... you'd be ok with him asking for her phone number, but not her email? Also, what happens at Radio shack? I mean, those guys must be out to get everyone's wives' the way they ask for personal info. Shirley, this isn't the first time someone has asked for your wife's email. And why are you so upset THIS time if it isn't? Because he's a doctor? I dunno, I mean I get where you're coming from, but it's not a very trusting place if you're going to have to "make sure you receive a copy of all those communications" to be comfortable.
This is true man. The ability to have a direct line of contact with a doctor is huge in my book. Honestly, the doctor probably doesn't care about your kid or your wife. He just wants your contact info to attach to an email marketing list and/or sell the contact list to his pharmaceutical buddy. I love that you're 51 with a 7 year old. That's the way to do it man. Long live the dream.
Spoiler <object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/f7nuZ825nxE?hl=en_US&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/f7nuZ825nxE?hl=en_US&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> Well done.
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Not to be too harsh, but you are acting insecure even if you say you aren't. You think your kid's doctor has the hots for your ~50 (i'm assuming) year old wife? wut. Unless your wife is demi moore I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Agreed. You better have the hottest wife imaginable. Hopefully she told you about this email rather than you scavenging through her account.
Lol, what a spaz. I'm a doctor and I ask for my patient's e-mails so I can keep in touch with them. Most of the time, it's asking if my treatment is working for them. If not, I ask them to come back in. All of my patients appreciate me taking the extra time and effort to contact them.
Yeah, it took me a while to get used to utilizing virtual communication for healthcare-related stuff, but it's actually much more efficient since doctors are usually busy with appointments so you can't reach them by phone, thus they can respond most quickly when they do have that spare time and can quickly send off update and status check messages to multiple patients. And it's better from a patient standpoint to send a message directly to the doctor than having to try and explain the situation to a receptionist who might not know what's going on or a busy nurse who is still not the direct point of contact, thus not the most efficient channel of communication, wasting everyone's time on the phone.
I remember this one time I was at the doctor's office and I was under the anesthetic and put to sleep. I woke up a few hours later and my mouth was sore and bleeding so I ask my doc, hey doc, what's with the pain in my mouth. The Doc said, "Oh that's just standard protocol, called the dik in your mouth." I do it all the time when a new patient comes in with a flu shot.
