“I know you don’t like it when patients use the Internet”
I hear this every day from parents who sheepishly admit that they’ve been trying to learn something about their child’s condition. It’s unfortunate really because patients have been conditioned to believe that they shouldn’t be educating themselves. And when they do they are berated as not acting in their own best interest or the interest of their child. Talk about a conflict.
But from the provider perspective it’s easy to view the infosphere with cynicism. Much of what patients read comes from unreliable sources.
So what’s a provider to do? Perhaps doctors could ‘prescribe’ web resources for their patients much like they prescribe medication. Required, vetted reading for a patient’s condition should be part of the treatment plan.
This can be done with a Delicious or Twine page. Bookmarked sites can be annotated with a doctor’s own personal commentary and tagged for easy retrieval. Patients can visit your Delicious page, pull links tagged for ‘remicade’, for example, and read ten or so of the best pieces of patient-friendly, accurate information on anti-TNF.
While patients will always wander to check out what they want, they need a stake post for Internet exploration. And then doctors couldn’t blame them for accessing bad information.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the idea of a resource page. That means you (as the doctor) have been doing your homework, too. I hope, anyhow. (You would put up the latest, best, most accurate, wouldn't you?)
Delicious and Twine are great examples. Good for you. THis is one (e)patient who wishes her doc would do this. Instead, she asks me to send her the research. LOL! Well, that works, too, doesn't it?
Thanks for reading Robin. The platform's there and it makes perfect sense. I am going to set up simultaneous Delicious, Twine and maybe Diigo accounts with the same links and ask patients to see what they like. I'll keep everyone posted to see how it evolves.
Wow – very cool. I've never used Delicious or Twine, but it seems I ought to check them out for future reference. Thanks!
Doctor V,
Love this idea! Info Prescriptions…
Teaching patients how to find credible info themselves, perhaps to share back with you, is a good idea, too.
Here's info I've put together to help:
http://patients.about.com/od/researchandresources/a/internetcred.htm
Trisha Torrey
Every Patient's Advocate
I love this idea!!! I plan on sharing it with my colleagues @ LVHN!
Great idea. What's important is for docs to find a bookmarking site they are comfortable with, use it consistently and let patients and colleagues know it is there. Most of the popular bookmarking sites are on the "Add it" button found on most websites and blogs these days. For the ease of patients, I'd suggest sticking with a bookmarking group that is on that list…like Delicious, Google, Yahoo, Stumbleupon, Reddit. Twine seems cool but isn't as well known yet and not yet on "Add It".
I also agree this is a great idea. The information stays available, and it's economical and environmentally friendly, too.
I can see it being a more desirable alternative to keeping informational brochures on file, or organizations shipping print brochures to physician offices like ours does now. And no one would need to be concerned about running out of brochures or having to reorder or ship more.
I guess the real question is 'why should the patient learn about the disorder'?
When i first saw a doctor (for the particular psychiatric problem i'm dealing with), they encouraged this. As i've learned more, its mostly caused tension with pdocs, particularly when i suggest treatments they are unfamiliar with or bring up pro/cons of various treatment options. I think i am both a treat to their sense of authority/competence, as well as the problem that my requests for various treatments is just extra hassle that disrupts normal flow of things. So while i would have guessed beforehand that my greater knowledge (bright+i like reading science+way too much time, from chronic unemployment) would be welcomed, i've found the reverse to be true. And i would prefer not to have to do research myself, part of the nice thing of going to a professional is trusting their knowledge. I'm not sure if this is solely due to a difference in psychiatric and paediatric practice.
Yoyo, Your comment is interesting and definitely outside the bell curve of most patients. I do think that there is a time and a place for allowing yourself to be cared for. Interestingly, I found myself assuming this mindset when my wife and I underwent eval for fertility. It was just too much to get my hands around. So we found the best doctor in the city and allowed them to help us. Never even Googled anything. Thanks for your thoughts.