Digital Doctors May Be in Your Future

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Internet, the most underdeveloped tool in the health care industry, can and should become a way for providers and patients to exchange information--not simply a means of quick payment to insurance companies, a Health and Human Services official says.

Increasing communication between providers and patients could make diagnoses more accurate, care more effective, and prevention more successful, Mary Jo Deering told the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering on Monday. And the Internet is one way of "engaging the consumer, the patient," she said.

"The potential is there," Deering said. A recent study by her office finds that 8 percent of Internet users have e-mailed their doctors, and 45 percent would like to have that option.

Digital Diagnosis

What's more, about 3 million people have sought medical advice online, she said. They may want to ask questions anonymously, or seek a second opinion.

Health care providers and patients could use the Internet "to make appointments, refill prescriptions, and check insurance benefits," Deering suggests. The patient would still control the information and its release, she said.

But online medical communication between caregiver and patient would necessitate other changes, Deering says, notably "the concept of the patient-provider relationship." Currently, a patient goes to the same doctor's office for most ailments, moving from there to a specialist if necessary. To make e-health work, people would have to adjust to consulting a different health care provider each time, or rotating among a group of the same providers, she said.

Policy Changes

Someday, patients and providers may post health records and information on the Internet as a matter of course--but online information exchange must become much more secure before that happens, she said. Some people can access health information online now, but it's "a cumbersome, insecure process," she said.

The aftermath of the September 11 attacks will "very appropriately" crowd out these issues for a time, Deering noted. But if the necessary changes are made, "screenside manner may one day be as important as bedside manner," she said.