The Impact of Online Healthcare Communities on the Patient – Doctor Relationship and attitude (original) (raw)
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The Patient-Physician Relationship in the Internet Age: Future Prospects and the Research Agenda
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2001
In the "Internet Age," physicians and patients have unique technological resources available to improve the patient-physician relationship. How they both utilize online medical information will influence the course of their relationship and possibly influence health outcomes. The decision-making process may improve if efforts are made to share the burden of responsibility for knowledge. Further benefits may arise from physicians who assist patients in the information-gathering process. However, further research is necessary to understand these differences in the patient-physician relationship along with their corresponding effects on patient and physician satisfaction as well as clinical outcomes.
Health Services Management Research, 2017
The diffusion of the Web 2.0 has made it possible for patients to exchange on online health communities, defined as computer-mediated communities dedicated to health topics, wherein members can build relationships with other members. It is now acknowledged that online health communities provide users not only with medical information but also with social support with no time or geographical boundaries. However, in spite of their considerable interest, there is still a paucity of research as to how online health communities alter the patient-physician relationship. This research aims at filling this gap and examines how online health communities, while providing users with computer-mediated social support and empowerment, impact the patient-physician relationship. Six hypotheses are proposed and tested. A survey was developed and 328 responses were collected from online patient groups in Canada in 2016. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. All but one hypothesis are validated. The results show that user computer-mediated social support positively influences user empowerment and participation during the consultation, which in turn determines user commitment to the relationship with the physician. Importantly and contrary to our expectations, user empowerment is found to be significantly but negatively related to user commitment with the physician.
The Impact of Health Information on the Internet on the Physician-Patient Relationship
Archives of Internal Medicine, 2003
Background Use of the Internet for health information continues to grow rapidly, but its impact on health care is unclear. Concerns include whether patients' access to large volumes of information will improve their health; whether the variable quality of the information will have a deleterious effect; the effect on health disparities; and whether the physician-patient relationship will be improved as patients become more equal partners, or be damaged if physicians have difficulty adjusting to a new role.
Is doctor-patient relationship influenced by health online information?
Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira, 2018
SUMMARY OBJECTIVES To analyse the opinions and attitudes reported by medical specialists regarding online health information and their interference in the doctor-patient relationship. Methods A cross-sectional study developed between 2016 and 2017 in Recife-Pernambuco-Brazil, which used a questionnaire in person in a population of 183 specialists from the Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira. The results were analysed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Obtained approval of the Ethics Committee under the voucher number 121004/2016. Results In the opinion of 85.2% of physicians, online health information has both positive and negative impacts on the physician-patient relationship. Faced with a questioning patient who claims to have researched information on the internet, 98.9% of the physicians said they would try to explain the reasons for their diagnosis and treatment. 59% already had a patient who modified the treatment recommended after seei...
The impact of CyberHealthcare on the physician–patient relationship
2003
It is estimated that 70 million Americans have used the Internet to acquire health-related information. Multiple factors provide the driving force behind this demand for online health information. Information technology is beginning to change the exclusive focus of medicine from curing disease to prevention of disease and enhancing health status. A critical feature of this change is the development of information and services that assist consumers to assume more responsibility for their own health and to actively participate in health care decisions. At the same time, physicians remain skeptical about the advantages of using the Internet for patient education. Some of the issues that this paper addresses include the following: What are the major factors that are leading to the increased use of the Internet by consumers to obtain health-related information? How do physicians view the use of the Internet by patients to obtain health-related information and services? How is the use of the Internet by consumers affecting physician-patient communications? What are the implications of the Internet for the future of physician-patient relationships? KEY WORDS: information technology; physician-patient relationship; use of the Internet; physicianpatient e-mail.
“Can I Trust You, Doc?”: User Perception Of Online Health Information
Klikdokter.com is one of websites that provides information service about health. Besides, it also provides live chat service i.e., question and answer about health which is directly claimed and answered by the specialist doctors. According to the survey conducted by IndoPacific Edelman and Research Unit and Community Service of Public Health Faculty of Indonesia University, the amount of 79% doctors believes in the most accurate health information source on the internet. Moreover, a study entitle Patients Use of the Internet for Medical Information shows that 53,5% out of 512 patients use internet as a media to find out information about health. The trust of doctors and internet users towards health information is indeed influenced by several factors. Therefore, the aim of this research is to analyze the factors that influence the trust of users towards the health information uploaded on klikdokter,com using ten construct variables. The data is collected from klikdokter.com users with 250 respondents. The data is analyzed using structural equation modeling analysis (SEM). The result shows that factors that influence Trust are perceived information quality, source expertise and argument quality.
International journal of environmental research and public health, 2018
Years of clinical trials have proven the maturity and safety of certain treatments, however, some of these mature treatments may not be highly effective. Several treatments have emerged through technological innovations, but their long-term safety, efficacy, and adverse effects remain unknown. At present, many patients seek information related to their treatments on the Internet, which may impact their attitudes towards different treatments and their trust in physicians. In this study, a research model was developed to examine how patients' trust in their physicians is influenced by related online information on mature or emerging treatments. The hypotheses were tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). A total of 336 valid responses were collected through an online survey. Mature treatments related health information was found to significantly improve patients' trust. Thus, physicians should pay more attention to mature treatme...
BMC Family Practice, 2007
Background: Both doctors and patients may perceive the Internet as a potential challenge to existing therapeutic relationships. Here we examine patients' views of the effect of the Internet on their relationship with doctors. Methods: We ran 8 disease specific focus groups of between 2 and 8 respondents comprising adult patients with diabetes mellitus, ischaemic heart disease or hepatitis C. Results: Data are presented on (i) the perceived benefits and (ii) limitations of the Internet in the context of the doctor-patient relationship, (iii) views on sharing information with doctors, and (iv) the potential of the Internet for the future. Information from the Internet was particularly valued in relation to experiential knowledge. Conclusion: Despite evidence of increasing patient activism in seeking information and the potential to challenge the position of the doctor, the accounts here do not in any way suggest a desire to disrupt the existing balance of power, or roles, in the consultation. Patients appear to see the Internet as an additional resource to support existing and valued relationships with their doctors. Doctors therefore need not feel challenged or threatened when patients bring health information from the Internet to a consultation, rather they should see it as an attempt on the part of the patient to work with the doctor and respond positively.
Untangling the Web—The impact of Internet use on health care and the physician–patient relationship
Patient Education and Counseling, 2007
Objective: The use of Web (i.e. Internet)-derived health information within the health care encounter is rapidly increasing. In this article, an extensive review of the complex effects and sometimes contradictory roles of the Web in regard to health care delivery and the physician-patient relationship is presented. Methods: A review of relevant literature was conducted, with key points integrated into a physician guide for effective interaction with Webactivated patients. Results: An emerging consumerist model with ''triangulation'' of patient-Web-physician can be expected to significantly impact dynamics of the physician-patient relationship. Potential advantages of Web-acquired information include helping patients make informed health care choices (with potential to decrease health care disparities), shared decision-making with a collaborative, teamwork approach, more efficient use of clinical time, augmenting of physician-provided information, online support groups, and/or access to patients' own health information. Alternatively, factors such as misinformation due to highly variable quality of Web information, possible exacerbation of socioeconomic health disparities, and shifting of conventional notions of the physician-patient relationship (''traditional'' medical authority) present their own set of challenges for the health care provider. Conclusion: A tangible guide to the integration of patients' use of the Web within a medical practice is thus offered with recommended communication skills. Practice implications: The ''net-friendly'' clinician can be effective by engendering a genuine partnership with patients, thus contributing to quality health care. #
Why People Trust in Online Health Communities: An Integrated Approach
2010
People are increasingly using the Internet as a major source of health-related information. Online health communities are interesting in this regard, because they are an important source of information, but also appear to serve an emotional support role in connecting people who have similar conditions or can otherwise empathize with each others' experiences. Trust is critical to the continued operation of these forums, because each support consumer is typically identified only by a pseudonym, important personal information is often revealed, and the consequences of acting on incorrect advice can be severe. Therefore, studies of established communities indicate that a significant level of trust develops between people in these forums. How this trust develops, however, has not been explained adequately in past research. In this conceptual paper, we propose a trust formation model that explains how trust is built in a non-commercial context where emotional bonding may play a large role.