Chief investigator Dr. Bradford W. Hesse and his associates report on the change in patient attitudes towards medicine in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
"The context in which patients consume health information has changed dramatically with diffusion of the Internet, advances in telemedicine, and changes in media health coverage."
When study participants were asked where they would prefer to go first for information about cancer, 49.5 percent reported wanting to go to their physicians, but only 10.9 percent actually went to their physicians first, whereas 48.6 percent went to the Internet first.
"Ongoing attention may be needed to adjust reimbursement policies for time spent with patients interpreting printouts, for accommodating shifts toward informed and shared decision making, for steering consumers to credible information sources, and for attending to the needs of those who fall through the cracks of the digital divide," says Hesse's group.
