Clicking with your doctor

Prodded by the federal government, doctors are replacing their paper files with electronic records. There have been growing pains. As efficient as the technology is, neither physicians nor patients want a computer screen separating them. But e-records are only part of e-medicine. Patients are increasingly turning to medical websites and message boards to become “experts” on their own health care. Many expect to keep in e-mail touch with their physicians. And some patients are even involved in home e-monitoring for chronic conditions. Together, these changes — all of them fueled by our increasing reliance on digital devices — are fundamentally altering the doctor-patient relationship, nudging health care from medical settings into people’s day-to-day lives. The most obvious change is in the doctor’s office.