A pilot study was undertaken to assess whether text-based electronic patient data transmission (e-mail) is a reliable source of information for the diagnostic decision-making process. The main objective was to determine if information contained within a transmitted text could be reliably used as basis for making general recommendations for diagnostic tests and follow-up or referral plans pertaining to a variety of oral mucosal pathologic conditions. The results suggest that face-to-face patient examination is more accurate in establishing a correct diagnosis for oral mucosal pathologies than transmitted descriptive patient data alone.
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Younai et al. (2000) studied this question.
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