And it's important to remember the personal touch, no matter how much electronic media become part of medical practice. “My fear is that we may get so involved with our data entry in the e-chart that we will forget to warmly interact face to face with our patients,” Dr. Scott said.
Clinicians can continue to remind patients to provide as much family history as possible, but it may take time to resolve technical and privacy issues before an electronic family health history becomes a seamless part of an electronic medical record, he said.
Dr. Scott had no financial conflicts to disclose. Dr. Feero is an employee of the National Institutes of Health, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.