Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Friday, February 4, 2011
Looking for health information online
The New York Times had an article today about where to look for health information online and the dangers of hysterical hypochondria and subtle misinformation. Many of us want to research our own health issues before visiting our doctor, and the Internet can be a great source of information. But it is important to weed through the special interests and the hype to reach more objective information. Today's article points the reader to some good sources to get past the hype.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The doctor is online
The New York Times Health blog posted an article today about an article in The Archives of Surgery which reported on the use of e-mail between patients and surgeons. Simply providing the surgeon's e-mail address nearly triples the likelihood the patient will contact the surgeon about the surgery http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/the-doctor-is-online/.
E-mail is a potentially powerful tool to facilitate conversations between patients and physicians. It gives a method for a patient to ask potentially embarrassing questions, and also gives patients a chance to take their time and compose questions, rather than getting flustered during a short appointment. But some physicians believe good medicine can only be conducted in person, and others fear how e-mail could be used in the event of a malpractice law suit. There are also real concerns about e-mail's lack of security, which makes e-mail communications non-HIPAA compliant.
What do you see as the possibilites for e-mail or some other sort of secure messaging service between physicians and patients? Could this be an important tool for facilitating communication between patients and physicians? Or should physicians and patients both be concentrating on improving face-to-face communication?
E-mail is a potentially powerful tool to facilitate conversations between patients and physicians. It gives a method for a patient to ask potentially embarrassing questions, and also gives patients a chance to take their time and compose questions, rather than getting flustered during a short appointment. But some physicians believe good medicine can only be conducted in person, and others fear how e-mail could be used in the event of a malpractice law suit. There are also real concerns about e-mail's lack of security, which makes e-mail communications non-HIPAA compliant.
What do you see as the possibilites for e-mail or some other sort of secure messaging service between physicians and patients? Could this be an important tool for facilitating communication between patients and physicians? Or should physicians and patients both be concentrating on improving face-to-face communication?
Monday, February 11, 2008
Reliable cancer information on the web
The Journal Cancer has an article in its March 15 issue that says that aout 95% of the information about breast cancer on the Internet is accurate. You can see a Washington Post article about the journal article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/11/AR2008021100809.html.
Patients should always be cautious about any information they get from the Internet, and always consider the source and recency of the information. But the good news is there is a lot of good information available to patients. This kind of information can help patients ask questions and have meaningful conversations with their physicians.
Patients should always be cautious about any information they get from the Internet, and always consider the source and recency of the information. But the good news is there is a lot of good information available to patients. This kind of information can help patients ask questions and have meaningful conversations with their physicians.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Fighting back online
The New York Times featured an article today about the growing trend of blogs advocating body acceptance and fighting against anti-obesity efforts. You can find the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/health/22fblogs.html?ex=1358744400&en=85e51683f19075d6&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink.
There is a concern among the featured bloggers that health concerns are being used to justify discrimination against obese people that would not be tolerated against other groups. And they point out research that suggests that the relationship between weight and health is more complex than usually presented.
Physicians have a complex job when talking with patients about weight to balance not entirely blaming the individual for their obesity, but also to help the patient realize that weight is largely related to lifestyle. It can be tempting for physicians to ignore or gloss over the complex relationship between weight and health and just tell patients they need to lose weight. But it is clear that many people are not tolerating that paternalistic answer and are fighting back online.
There is a concern among the featured bloggers that health concerns are being used to justify discrimination against obese people that would not be tolerated against other groups. And they point out research that suggests that the relationship between weight and health is more complex than usually presented.
Physicians have a complex job when talking with patients about weight to balance not entirely blaming the individual for their obesity, but also to help the patient realize that weight is largely related to lifestyle. It can be tempting for physicians to ignore or gloss over the complex relationship between weight and health and just tell patients they need to lose weight. But it is clear that many people are not tolerating that paternalistic answer and are fighting back online.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Doctors using viral communication
The New York Times Health blog ran a story about a group of doctors who are responding to a viral e-mail with a viral e-mail of their own. The original e-mail is written by an ovarian cancer survivor advocating the use of a cancer test to catch cancer sooner. Doctors are concerned about the test because its predictive value is not that good and fear that many people are falsely reassured or even undergo unneccessary treatments because of the test. And as a result of fielding a lot of questions about this test, these doctors decided to put their own opinions about the test out into the wild winds of the internet.
You can find the blog here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/doctors-take-on-a-notorious-e-mail/.
So what do you think about doctors putting out information this way? Is it an appropriate way to fight misinformation online? Or does refuting information require a more personal touch in a face-to-face encounter between doctor and patient?
You can find the blog here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/doctors-take-on-a-notorious-e-mail/.
So what do you think about doctors putting out information this way? Is it an appropriate way to fight misinformation online? Or does refuting information require a more personal touch in a face-to-face encounter between doctor and patient?
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Health news at the New York Times
Here's another web site aimed at the active health care consumer. The New York Times Health Section http://health.nytimes.com/.
Many patients are becoming more engaged in seeking health care information. And the Internet is filled with information, some, of course, of dubious quality. But the NYT section impressed me with its 3,000+ article archive of news stories about health topics, in a useful search database. It also offers stories on health care policy and health care financing, as one would expect from The New York Times.
Nothing can replace dialogue with a trusted physician, but it is always good to have an additional source of information.
Many patients are becoming more engaged in seeking health care information. And the Internet is filled with information, some, of course, of dubious quality. But the NYT section impressed me with its 3,000+ article archive of news stories about health topics, in a useful search database. It also offers stories on health care policy and health care financing, as one would expect from The New York Times.
Nothing can replace dialogue with a trusted physician, but it is always good to have an additional source of information.
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