Patient Internet Usage Potentially Dangerous - health - Brief Article

Physician Executive, July, 2001 by James A. Hawkins

Are your patients asking you questions about health information they have found on the Internet? If they aren't, why not? And are you ready for it when they do?

It's estimated that nearly 100 million Americans use the Internet to find health information. Surveys have found that 70 percent of those using the Internet to find health information say it influences their treatment decisions.

So what kind of information are patients finding on the Internet?

A recent study published in JAMA, conducted by the RAND Corporation think tank for the California HealthCare Foundation, found health information on websites is generally accurate, but often incomplete and hard for consumers to understand.

"The Internet is still in its formative stages and has tremendous potential as an information resource for patients and health care providers alike," said the report's lead author, RAND analyst Gretchen Berland, MD. "This research provides guidance on how to use what is available on the Internet now and on the changes needed to make the information better and more reliable."

Do you have a strategy for helping your patients deal with the incomplete, irrelevant, and difficult to understand information they find on the Internet?

The Rand report appropriately urges patients to discuss the information they find on the Internet with their care providers before using it to make a treatment decision.