Web buoys doctor-patient communication

There's a high chance the next patient who walks into your office has been researching their diagnosis on the internet and fretting over what they've found.

Roughly 62.5% of your patients Google their symptoms before stopping by the clinic, according to research published mid-April in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism.

SHY GUYS
But of those patients only 20% will discuss their concerns with you. The others, the study discovered, say they'd rather not come off as challenging your authority.

However, the research also found that when patients do bring up their concerns, both they and their doctors feel more satisfied with the visit.

M Cameron Hay-Rollins, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of anthropology at Miami University, suggests taking a couple minutes to ask patients what they've researched and guide them to the best information online.

VIRTUAL VENTURES
If patients are already on the web digging for information, doctors should join them and lend a hand, suggests Dr Timothy Foggin, a pioneering Canadian FP, who is working to improve doctor-patient communication using the net (he's also featured in an article about 'block fees' this month in NRM.)

Early this year Dr Foggin and his patients helped beta test the CMA's mydoctor.ca web portal, which has online applications to monitor chronic disease and private email services so patients can contact their doc directly. The system could be used to quickly dispel any suspect information patients have gleaned online and discuss their symptoms.

INNOVATIVE APPROACH
One of most interesting aspects about Dr Foggin's approach, though, is that patients who use the service have begun paying him a block fee for this direct access. "Patients have been receptive and realize that my time is valuable," he says.

Just last week, he was preparing to send out 600 letters offering patients varying degrees of online support. For him to monitor chronic disease using online tracking tools will cost about $50 or $100 for a family package. For more advanced services including 15 online interactions, disease tracking and refills he'll charge $129 annually.

"My patients feel a connection with me that they haven't had before," Dr Foggin enthuses. "It's brief, but it's me, and I can control my interaction."

Photo: A still of mydoctor.ca's blood pressure tracking
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