I was doing some literature searches to look for information to support my current research on why healthcare students are going online. I discovered a research article discussing how patients go online to search for health information before talking to their doctors or medical providers. While this seems like a common thing to do, I started thinking about how much this effects patient-provider communication.
It used to be that a patient would feel sick and go to the doctor. After a thorough workup and discussion between the two, the physician would offer a diagnosis and treatment plan. Because the patient usually did not have any advanced medical knowledge or training prior to entering a doctor’s office, they accepted the diagnosis and treatment plan.
Now, patients are “self-diagnosing” by searching their symptoms online and then meeting with their physicians. When they enter the doctor’s office, they already hold certain amounts of knowledge and opinions over what they think their diagnosis is and what the treatment plan should be. So even as the doctor is communicating with them, the information being given by the patient may be bias to fit the symptoms of what they already “self-diagnosed” themselves with.
What was even more interesting to me was another news article I read stating that physicians are ok with the fact that patients search for health information prior to contacting them. I would like to see research to support this notion because from what I hear from physicians around my office, that is not the case. They discuss how inaccurate health information online causes barriers in patient-provider communication.
I admit to the fact that I do research health information online when I am a patient but I tend to be very selective in what I choose to believe. Most of my research performed online is AFTER meeting with a physician and hearing their opinions because I want to learn more about what the diagnosis and treatment plan. Maybe I am one of the rare ones, maybe it is because I work around physicians and understand/respect their knowledge, or maybe it is because I practice effective communication. Who knows.
Just me thinking here about it all but as a patient, what do you tend to do? If you go online before your appointment, does this affect the communication between you and the doctor?
