TY - JOUR
T1 - Generic characteristics of patients’ e-consultations with general practitioners
AU - Laursen, Ditte
AU - Brøgger, Matilde Nisbeth
AU - Fage-Butler, Antoinette Mary
AU - Møller, Jane Ege
AU - Grønning, Anette
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Electronic communication between patients and general practitioners (GPs), known as e-consultations, was introduced in Denmark as a cost-effective and convenient means for patients to access their GP and receive test results as well as answers to quick questions. Research on e-consultations internationally has found that patients are generally very positive, while doctors are more hesitant. Most studies of e-consultations have involved survey or interview methodologies, while studies of their content, form or language are limited. In this study, we address this gap by proposing that genre may be a productive concept for comprehending textual aspects of e-consultations. We explore the following two questions: (1) what are the generic characteristics of the e-consultation?; and (2) do e-consultations belong to the email genre? Based on an analysis of two Danish corpora of patients’ first turns in e-consultations with their GPs, we identify an underlying move structure: subject, opening, update, problem presentation, request, argumentation, closing. We argue that the e-consultation is an example of an email genre with identifiable conventions, which are both specific to the communicative function of e-consultations and aligned with generic features of emails.
AB - Electronic communication between patients and general practitioners (GPs), known as e-consultations, was introduced in Denmark as a cost-effective and convenient means for patients to access their GP and receive test results as well as answers to quick questions. Research on e-consultations internationally has found that patients are generally very positive, while doctors are more hesitant. Most studies of e-consultations have involved survey or interview methodologies, while studies of their content, form or language are limited. In this study, we address this gap by proposing that genre may be a productive concept for comprehending textual aspects of e-consultations. We explore the following two questions: (1) what are the generic characteristics of the e-consultation?; and (2) do e-consultations belong to the email genre? Based on an analysis of two Danish corpora of patients’ first turns in e-consultations with their GPs, we identify an underlying move structure: subject, opening, update, problem presentation, request, argumentation, closing. We argue that the e-consultation is an example of an email genre with identifiable conventions, which are both specific to the communicative function of e-consultations and aligned with generic features of emails.
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1612-1783
VL - 18
SP - 168
EP - 184
JO - Communication and Medicine
JF - Communication and Medicine
IS - 2
ER -