Internet health info facilitates doctor-patient relationships

Internet health info facilitates doctor-patient relationships

 

Source: ePharm5(tm)
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The National Cancer Institute recently studied how consumer access to online heath information can change patients' perceptions of their doctors. Cancer patients who are just beginning to use the Internet to find information distrust their doctor's advice, but the more often patients used online information services, the more satisfied they became with their doctor's care. In other words, the more they learn, the more they trust, because the information online ends up validating physicians' advice. Therefore, referring patients to high quality information about their illness on the Internet may improve the doctor-patient relationship, according to the authors of the study. The Center for Connected Health is one of the few health institutions attempting this kind of doctor-patient extension, and so far it reports good results. Cleveland Clinic also is using blogs and podcasts in teaching scenarios and is looking at using them to deliver timely information to the doctor at the bedside, but has yet to incorporate physician-patient interaction.

 

Click on the link below for more information on the report.

http://hints.cancer.gov/hints/