Use of the Internet
in health care communication
The Pew Internet and American Life Project has conducted a series of national surveys on the use of the Internet. A 2005 study found that 137 million people or 68% of American adults use the Internet, which was up from 63% one year earlier.
The 2005 survey found that 79% of Internet users have searched online for health information, with 40% of those specifically seeking information on prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medications. This was a statistically significant increase over the 34% found to access medication information in 2002. In addition, 30% have searched for information on alternative treatments and 23% have looked for information on experimental treatments or medications.
In spite of widespread use of the Internet to access information on medications, only 4% reported in 2005 that they had purchased prescription medications via the Internet and 62% saw such a practice to be less safe than getting medications from a pharmacy.
Use of E-mail in Society: The Internet and e-mail are often considered as one and the same even though both can be used separately. Nevertheless, e-mail has grown into the single most common use of the Internet. While the majority of e-mail is asynchronous, instant messaging (IM) and short messaging service (SMS) allow for real-time exchanges. However, IM and SMS lack interoperability between competing systems and are currently less secure than some forms of e-mail exchange.
The personal computer (PC) is still the major originator and receiver of e-mails in the United States, but there are now many wireless, non-PC options such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, and telephones. Creation of e-mails is still primarily a keyboard function but voice to text is evolving.
E-mail and Internet use by patients is expected to continue to escalate as members of Generation Y (those born between 1977 and 1995) begin to use the health care system in earnest.
Some of the health care expectations and behaviors are summarized by the patients:
• Are very involved in their health and well-being
• Assume their physicians are using the latest diagnostic and treatment tools
• Expect attention and will not tolerate being rushed through a visit
• Bring detailed notes with them
• Research their symptoms and have questions
• Know or demand to know their options
• Expect expanded hours to accommodate their schedules
• Expect continual online availability
The provision of clinical consultation services by e-mail has been controversial. Nevertheless, charging the consumer directly for a health care consultation by web/e-mail has been part of e-health almost from the beginning . Governmental organizations, regulators, and organized health care became alarmed at the misuse of the system by unknown practitioners diagnosing and prescribing treatments for unknown patients. There were many examples of abuse of the system and of the system getting out in front of regulators and legislators. Since those early days in the 1990s, health care oversight agencies have begun to respond . At the same time, consumer demand has attracted the attention of even the most conservative medical organizations.
E-mail has the potential to profoundly affect the communication between providers and patients, but as yet, use of e-mail in clinical care has been sporadic. However, patients also want access to e-mail consultations with their personal providers. Ninety per cent of adults who use the Internet want to exchange e-mails .