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care. And while some physicians may feel the Internet is a potential avenue for harm by providing just enough material to allow for self-diagnosis, a recent Louis and Harris Associates poll reported that most patients prefer to print out the facts they find on-line and bring it to their physician for discussion. (CyberAtlas, 1999)
While the majority of surfers are searching for information about diseases, an average of one in four people go on-line to join a support group. Information on cancer and heart disease is most often requested, with alternative medicine and holistic care being the fastest growing segment. Consumers have recognized that, on the Internet, information is no longer available only to physicians, nurses and other professionals. Patients/consumers are empowered by access to information that previously was available only in medical libraries. This material is now freely available to any person, any age, as part of life on the Internet.
PHYSICIAN INTERNET USE
Healtheon Corp.'s Internet Survey (1999) revealed that 85 percent of U.S. physicians surveyed are currently using the Internet, an increase in regular on-line activity of 42 percent in the last three months, a jump of 87.5 percent from 1997. The survey also found that more than 63 percent of the physicians surveyed use e-mail daily and 33 percent have even used e-mail to communicate with patients. Physician-patient communication via e-mail has jumped 200 percent in the last year and nearly 20 percent in the last three months. This survey revealed that physicians are recognizing the inherent value of Internet services -as helpful in delivering better care via web practice sites, access to disease management and laboratory data. These physicians have a greater incentive for becoming part of the Internet revolution.
According to a recent survey (1999) on CyberAtlas, physicians used the Internet most frequently to access information on diseases (95 percent), to read medical journals (86 percent), and to visit medical association sites (80 percent). Seventy percent stated they use the Internet to consult with colleagues in their own country, while 45 percent used it to consult with colleagues in other countries. The study also found that 25 percent of physician offices use the Internet for billing claims.
Use of the Internet is creating an information revolution in medicine. As both access to it and the volume of information on it grow, the Internet is generating a new standard for communication, using news groups and e-mail to help speed diagnosis and/or to communicate treatment strategies. More technology companies are creating interactive medical sites, allowing for the exchange of data, diagnoses, and even imaging tests such as CT scans and X-rays. The ability to connect geographically distant physicians with their colleagues and hospitals, in rural and metropolitan areas, nationally and internationally, allows for access to information and specialists who can diagnose and prescribe the appropriate treatment for all patients.
THE PROLIFERATION OF PROFESSIONALS ON-LINE
Physicians, group practices, HMOs, insurers, hospitals, consultants, and other related health care vendors are using an on-line presence to attract new clients, espouse their marketing propaganda, as well as provide information. Approximately 30 percent of the medical professionals surveyed stated they had websites, while nearly a third of the specialty medical associations offer a website for their membership. An additional 16 percent of physicians plan to post a website for their practice within the year. "Digital Docs" sites range from "Dr. Don Waiting Room On-line" to sites for Dr. Koop and Dr. Ruth, and Americas Doctors (AOL Doctors on-line), each becoming a new house-hold name for on-line access to health "expertise."
Appealing to the increased use of the Internet by physicians is an on-line business geared to this new breed of "web docs." The Doctors Domain (http://www.register.md) is a site for the use of "dotMD"or ".MD" as part of a physician's med-web site. This new domain allows physicians to have a domain such as MarcusWelby. MD.
MED-WEB: HELP OR HAZARD?
There are hundreds of thousands of health-related sites on the Web, with more coming on line each day. Designed for ease of use and to appeal to the millions of people worldwide who suffer from chronically disabling conditions, many of these med-web sites offer support to those individuals who perceive they have no where else to turn. They also provide on-line, immediate access to "asking the doctor" questions about symptoms, diseases, and medications.
Med-web e-commerce sites provide more than information and service; they make purchasing products easy and accessible. An example of health product purchasing on-line is the sale of vitamins which is now in excess of $9 billion per year.
The culture of the Web is not a "cure-all" for information deprivation, or professional, product or service inaccessibility. It has its own set of consequences. Many professionals are concerned about the quality and accuracy of information and products plus the credentials (and motives) of on-line docs. Collaboration among physicians, health systems, insurers, practices and the patients they serve, all connected through the use of the Internet, can effectively produce an interactive media where information is shared, treatment expedited, products purchased, and payment received, all in the name of best health care practice: a virtual reality in health care. |
