Posted by noa on October 8, 2000, at 10:43:53
In reply to Re: Hypotheses about Online Text Communication » Dr. Bob, posted by CarolAnn on October 7, 2000, at 10:22:56
Carol Ann,
Interesting point, and I think a lot of doctors would agree with you, that patients need doctors to filter and guide the information.
However, the internet, for me, has given me unprecedented access to a wealth of information about health issues of interest to me, and being able to educate myself in this way has enabled me to seek out the care I needed. I would absolutely not have been able to do that without the internet.
This doesn't at all substitute for any of the doctors I see--psychologist, psychopharmocologist, endocrinologist, gynecologist, inernist. It has empowered me to ask the right questions, to work more collaboratively with my doctors. In the case of the endocrinologist, it actually allowed me to find the right doctor for me (through a recommedations page on a thyroid site).
At Syms, they say, "where an educated consumer is our best customer" and I think this is true a millionfold when it comes to healthcare, particularly in today's health care environment, when the average doctor spends about 4 minutes with each patient.
I have a "team" of very smart, talented, skilled, highly trained experts, whom I could never replace with internet information. But I think of myself as my own health care case manager, because there is no one else coordinating all the different elements of care, trying to integrate them and look at the whole picture. This role, which was only possible with the help of the internet, is the "missing puzzle peice" I needed.
poster:noa
thread:844
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20000813/msgs/881.html