How has the internet affected health care?

The Internet contains a vast amount of healthcare information that any
consumer can view. Some surveys have estimates as high as 50 per cent
of all Internet traffic is generate by people seeking medical
information. And half the people who have used the Internet to get
health and medical information say this information has improved the
way they take care of themselves. Which is easily understandable; any
reasonably educated individual could learn more about their particular
disease or condition in a few hour's online research than the average
primary care physician knows. These Internet users say the specific
impact was that the information drawn from the Web helped in decisions
regarding the treatment of an illness and allowed them to be better
prepared to ask more articulate questions of their doctors or seek
second opinions. In some instances, it even helped them formulate the
decision to seek medical treatment for an ailment.

But among health care professionals, it has raised some serious
questions. Are certain types of healthcare information too advanced
for consumers to understand? Should consumer access to "professional"
information be limited? Or are such restrictions just extensions of a
paternalistic medical establishment that serve only to deny consumers
critical information? There is also the concern that the search
strategies of online health seekers are scattershot. Most of those
interviewed in these surveys reported that, the last time they went
hunting online for health information, they got the facts they needed.
But without the benefit of professional advice, it is conceivable they
can get information from web sites they had never heard of before they
began the search. This can manifest itself in the form of alternative
or complementary systems of medicine, some of which have little or no
medical substance.

For instance, a survey covered in the British Journal of Cancer (
August 2002; 87: 479-480 ) suggested that "a considerable amount of
hype exists about cancer treatments and that some Internet sites
promote alternative remedies for cancer that may be dangerous." The
study reviewed 13 alternative medicine sites. It revealed that some of
these sites went as far as to discourage patients from using
conventional treatments, such as chemotherapy. And since these Cancer
patients often get confused in the maze of claims and counter claims,
the advice they have received has led to real harm and even death in
some cases.

Regardless of the consequences, as a result of the influx of
information on the Internet, the number of "wired" physicians is going
up all the time. And since improving the healthcare process is about
bringing the right information to the right persons and facilitating
communication amongst the many players involved in the process, many
health care professionals are realizing this is exactly what the
Internet and related technologies are all about.

Sources/References

Internet Healthcare Coalition:
http://www.ihealthcoalition.org/community/program.html

Pew Internet Project:
http://www.pewinternet.org/releases/release.asp?id=10
Press Release 11/22/00: Study Shows That Internet Searches are
Affecting Users' Health-care Decisions

Dr. Joseph Mercola: http://www.mercola.com/2002/aug/21/cancer.htm
Be Wary of 'Dangerous' Cancer Advice on the Internet

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