Electronic communication in ethics committees: experience and challenges

Experience with electronic communication in ethics committees at two hospit als is reviewed and discussed. A listserver of ethics committee members tra nsmitted a synopsis of the ethics consultation shortly after the consultati on was initiated Committee comments were sometimes incorporated into the re commendations. This input preyed to be most useful in unusual cases where a dditional, diverse inputs were informative. Efforts to ensure confidentiali ty are vital to this approach. They include not naming the patient in the e -mail, requiring a password for access to the listserver, and possibly encr yption. How this electronic communication process alters group interactions in ethics committees is a fruitful area for future investigation.