Patient as Googler
Matthew Holt points out an article from Time Magazine titled, " When the Patient is a Googler." The example given is of a woman who was doctor shopping and not getting the answers she wanted. "Susan had chosen me because she had researched my education, read a
paper I had written, determined my university affiliation and knew
where I lived." And this physician thought she knew too much. Also, this physician prefers nurses and engineers as patients and begins to sound sexist in not wanting to deal with an emotional approach to illness. Although this patient certainly pushed the limits.
Many patients are "Googlers" and research their physicians more or less thoroughly. Researching important aspects of one's own health care and knowing who your surgeon is certainly affects what your surgeon does. Is it overdone by some patients? Definitely. Does it empower others - most certainly.
Perhaps when we get to the semantic health care web, the results will be more even handed.
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Many patients are "Googlers" and research their physicians more or less thoroughly. Researching important aspects of one's own health care and knowing who your surgeon is certainly affects what your surgeon does. Is it overdone by some patients? Definitely. Does it empower others - most certainly.
Perhaps when we get to the semantic health care web, the results will be more even handed.
Technorati: ehealth
I am a regular reader of eHealth and really enjoy your take on the unfolding state of tech & health.
What an interesting post John. The advent of googling for insight is upon us and inevitable. It will most likely get much worse once semantic web tools become more prevalent.
The ability of semantic web software to tag and organize everything will certainly bleed, no pun intended, into personal usages like the posted article indicates. That will lead to an easy dig for those who have an unbalanced approach to “researching” providers.
I do think that the great majority who search for medical care are less problematic. The new tools mentioned above will give everyone the ability to work with a larger and clearer picture regardless of the content!
Here is a link that has started the ball rolling:
http://www.twine.com/
And another to the Nova:
http://novaspivack.typepad.com/about.html
Thought you might be interested. Alan
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I think Google's SERP is enough relevant now when you search for medications or illnesses information (drugs.com or wikipedia.org are usual top sites). That's why people who use Google can find what they are looking for. On the other hand those who don't Google ask obvious questions on Yahoo!Answers - they can simply find answers on Google, but they don't know how.
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Also this might be of interest! Alan
http://www.roughtype.com/index.php
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are you referring to the this post about Google getting its hand's slapped on double click?
http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2007/11/google_gets_a_w.php
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I would like to add that not just patients,even Doctors are googlers.The kind of information you get from google by just typing in your topic of interest, none of the other sites, not even medical sites give such extensive and comprehensive results.
Cheers to google
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I think Google's SERP is enough relevant now when you search for medications or illnesses information (drugs.com or wikipedia.org are usual top sites). That's why people who use Google can find what they are looking for. On the other hand those who don't Google ask obvious questions on Yahoo!Answers - they can simply find answers on Google, but they don't know how.
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The type of information which you obtain from google by simply typing the topic which interests you, none of the other sites, the medical sites not to even give this vast and complete results.
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think Google's SERP is enough relevant now when you search for medications or illnesses information
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Disclaimer: I am not a clinician.
I have been a "service provider" for many years and it seems to me that physicians like this do not realize they are service providers and should be judged on their professional abilities.
Sounds to me like Susan was being a good consumer.
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I agree that the great majority who search for medical care are less problematic. The new tools mentioned above will give everyone the ability to work with a larger and clearer picture regardless of the content!
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would like to add that not just patients,even Doctors are googlers.The kind of information you get from google by just typing in your topic of interest, none of the other sites, not even medical sites give such extensive and comprehensive results.
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On the other hand those who don't Google ask obvious questions on Yahoo!Answers - they can simply find answers on Google
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Bravo Dr Bela Sachdeva. You are right as usual
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My blood boils when I hear doctors who complain about patients who research their sicknesses when it takes weeks - sometimes longer to see a doctor. To expect patients to sit idle without information about their health until they can be seen is ridiculous and bearing on cruel.
The good doctor fails to understand that a sickness which inflicts the patient sometimes impacts the entire family. Often the entire family is paralyzed until they get more information about their loved one. Doctors should expect that their patients to research their illnesses prior to their office visit. In addition to researching, I have even used websites like http://onlineconsultation.com which allowed me to interact with a doctor immediately. Once my worst fears have been set aside, the information I learn also assures my family until I am able to see a doctor.
The bottom line is that the internet is not going away so patients are going to continue learning about their ailments online. The good doctor should keep his complaints to himself.
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Not just patients,even Doctors are googlers.The kind of information you get from google by just typing in your topic of interest, none of the other sites, not even medical sites give such extensive and comprehensive results.
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We received a nice email from a user about this blog. A good doctor is well informed. He or she knows accurate information (which is backed by credible research) and some of the misinformation floating around in cyberspace.
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Very helpful, thanks!!
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On the other hand those who don't Google ask obvious questions on Yahoo!Answers - they can simply find answers on Google
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