Access managers tout Internet benefits
Access managers tout Internet benefits
If you still haven’t gotten your feet wet in the vast ocean of Internet communications, there are role models available among your colleagues. Some of them can’t imagine going back to those long-forgotten days before e-mail.
Asked about the advantages of using the Internet in her job, Deborah Wright, BSN, MAS, director of admitting and registration at the University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore, immediately dashed off this list (via e-mail, of course):
• "It’s faster than a fax provided the recipient answers when sending information to other corporate sites.
• "I can badger my managers about projects without having to disrupt their day’s work. They answer the e-mail when they are ready.
• "You can send a virus to someone you don’t like." (She’s kidding, we think.)
• "I use it to talk to other managers about work projects it gives you a written record of the conversation.
• "You can send lots of information to anyone by attaching files."
She also has a word of warning: "Be careful of what you say, since your message can be forwarded to another."
Peter A. Kraus, CHAM, systems liaison manager for patient accounts services at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, has his own list of benefits. He praises e-mail’s speed, its ability to send the same message to many people, and its ability to file and retrieve previous messages, both yours and those you receive.
"Then there’s compatibility with other applications," he adds. "You can attach files from word processing and spreadsheet applications. You can selectively take portions of several documents and combine them. If you’ve got scanners, you can scan. And on and on. The options seem endless, and I’m sure there are many I’m not even aware of."
As with most things, however, there is a downside. "You don’t know where your messages may end up if a recipient forwards them," Kraus says. "You can be quoted out of context. There’s an electronic record out there of everything you say. It pays to consider these things when drafting e-mail messages."
There’s an informality to most e-mail messages that is decried by some users but welcomed by others. "No one seems overly concerned with spelling, syntax, the more obscure or not so obscure rules of grammar," he says.
"I think perhaps this is an inevitable sacrifice to achieve rapid dissemination of information. When access managers communicate with each other, the Internet tends to replace a phone call, with all the potential advantages listed above. No one is unduly concerned about grammar and syntax during a phone conversation, either."
Access managers will see the advantages of e-mail communications quickly, both within their own departments and with other departments, Kraus says, particularly the ability to document and communicate the same message to a large audience.
"I maintain private’ mail lists of groups with whom I routinely want to communicate the same message," he adds. "What used to be a time-consuming task is now child’s play."
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