When the Patient is a pain the doctor blames Google, by Matthew Holt
This article in Time written by an New York-based orthopedic surgeon is called When the Patient Is a Googler. But the problem is not Google, or online health information searching. Most doctors like a better informed patient. The problem is that this patient didn’t respect the doctor and that the doctor in turn didn’t respect the patient.
Trot over to Tara Parker-Pope’s Well blog on the NY Times to see a lot of comments about the surgeon’s attitude. (And no cracks from those of you who know a few orthopedic surgeons!)
Matthew Holt
Health 2.0 Developer Challenges
The key is to find a way to bridge the gap between patients and doctors.
We already know that patients are starting online. Before they go to their doctor. We also know that many (most!) physicians are actually telling their patients to avoid going to google, etc.
Thanks to companies like SERMO, I think this will change dramatically. We will start to see physicians actually migrating online in record numbers. The ones who do will thrive. They will earn trust with their patients and they will begin to connect and build a different type of relationship with their patients in a way they simply are not able to do now.
The first step is to get more physicians online so they understand the many benefits that bridging this "digital divide" can have. The other "first step" is to continue to improve the quality and credibility of the information, resources, and tools that exist. That way physicians will be able to recommend the Web with confidence to their patients.
Our number one criteria at OrganizedWisdom as we create what we call WisdomCards is to ask our physician reviewers this question: Would you recommend this WisdomCard to your patients, friends or family who needed this type of information?
As more physicians get experience with the Web, and the resources improve, we will see the digital divde that currently exists between patients and doctors begin to evaporate. And we'll all be better off for it.