Peggy,
To change that a little. The "Check Email" button as kaps stated is simply to "refresh" your inbox. That is all it does. That is an entirely different story as most people here wish we had auto-refresh.
I on one post did say that I check my messages while taking a history. But, not my email. Although, I have been known to do that as well.
I use Outlook. Still is and always has been the best email editor out there, but it isn't free like Outlook Express. Vista does have a nice free email program called Windows Mail or Vista Mail or something.
Anyway either Express or regular Outlook will work in the following way, which I suggest over your method of cutting and pasting. This way gives more options AND keeps an audit trail as you really can't change the email in my method as you can with cut and paste.
When using Express or Outlook, simply open the Imported Items window in the patient's chart. Then, drag and drop the email directly into the left pane. That's it. The actual email is now in the patient's chart. There is really no need to name it or anything. It will have the tell tale .eml or .msg extensions anyway. But, you can right click and rename and categorize them.
So, you have actual emails that can't be tampered with AND you can open, reply, forward or do anything you could do with that email when it was in the original application.
