E-health networks, p-
13
help patients manage disease, including lifestyle recommendations. A 2003 reported that a mere
7% of doctors who were already online use RDM technology (mainly for monitoring patient
blood glucose levels), an insignificant growth from 5% two years earlier (Boston Consulting
Group, 2003).
Physicians and their Patients’ Use of the Internet
Although healthcare seekers may be using the Internet avidly, physicians do not notice
substantial proportions of their patients discussing their findings with them. This is suggested in
Table Four, which shows the results of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation survey of 1,050
physicians in 2001. One out of six physicians reported that, over prior year, none of their patients
discussed anything concerning information they had seen on the Internet with them. About half
reported that a few of their patients had done so. Less than 10% reported that more than half of
their patients had done so. A seemingly inescapable conclusion is that even if many patients are
using the Internet for getting healthcare information, few are discussing any of it with their
physicians.
--- Table Four about here ---
Nonetheless, the majority of physicians have positive views towards patients presenting
them information from the Internet (see Table Five). The substantial majority finds the
information accurate, feels that this use of online information shows that patients are taking
responsibility for their healthcare, and that such presentations are not challenges to physician
authority. (Notably, positive attitudes are inversely related to physician’s age.) Even those who
did view the presentation of information experience positively tended not to feel that such
actions worsened their relationship with patients. The one exception was for those who
considered such presentations as challenging physician authority, but this still only amounted to
Convention