Study Finds Physician Regard for the Internet Increasing - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

AORN Journal, August, 2001

Physicians' perceptions of the Internet as a useful resource have increased steadily since 1997, according to a May 9, 2001, news release from the American Medical Association (AMA). This increase corresponds to a 50% growth in the proportion of physicians who access the Internet.

These finding are the result of the 2001 AMA Study on Physicians' Use of the World Wide Web. More than 1,000 physicians were interviewed between June 15, 2000, and Sept 9, 2000, for this study, which is the third in a series conducted by AMA that review nationwide patterns of online physicians.

Findings of the 2001 study include the following trends.

* The increase in physicians' computer use has been matched by physicians' Internet use.

* The percentage of online physicians who consider the Internet useful as a resource for medication information, business, and patient education has increased significantly since 1997.

* The top five physician activities on the Internet (ie, sending and receiving nonpatient-related email; finding medical information sources; collecting travel information; obtaining product information; conducting professional association communications) have not changed since 1997.

* Five physician Internet activities (ie, collecting conference information; purchasing products and services; shopping; using brokerage services; using online banking services) have increased since 1997.

* Twenty-five percent of online physicians use email to communicate with their patients.

* From 1997 to 1999, the number of physicians who have web sites increased significantly. This number has now stabilized.

Physicians included in the study were selected randomly from a comprehensive database of information on all US physicians, including both members and nonmembers of AMA. Those who were employed by the federal government, 70 years of age or older, or in residency training were excluded from the study.

AMA Survey Finds Upsurge in Physician Usage and Regard for the Internet (news release, Chicago: American Medical Association, May 9, 2001) http://www.ama-assn.org/ama /pub/article/1616-4692. html (accessed 25 May 2001).