The growth in the Health Care Information Technology and the myriad of online and mobile tools is enabling patients to engage in their health in ways not previously feasible. The development of the e-mail, video conferencing, smart phones and electronic health records has enhanced the quality of communication between physicians and patients. The provision of quality health care depends on the clinician’s ability to adequately communicate diagnosis and treatment regimens, as well as provide appropriate health education information. There is a common belief that e-patients are a minority of motivated people but do not represent the bulk of the patients being attended.
A recent report by the PEW Research Center Internet Project describes the rise of the e-patient. A rapidly growing segment of the population is using the internet and other e-tools to access their health information; 61% of the total population and 83% of the online population use the internet for querying about health information. It was said to be widespread across genders and ethnicities; 64% of men and 57% of women; 65% of white; 51% of black and 44% of Hispanics use the internet this way. There is a skewing towards upscale and educated users and towards the parents of young children. Over the past few years, e-patients have become high-speed using broadband 88% of the time and mobile using wireless 89% of the time. E-patients are also more likely to use social media and build online networks of “patients like me” to discuss the health conditions.
The poll conducted by GFK Roper said: Three in five American with chronic disease say using a Home Medical Device would improve their Health. About half of Americans currently live with at least one chronic condition and more than ninety percent of Americans age 65 or older are living with some form of chronic illness according to the Center for Disease Control (2010). There is also a growing interest in clinicians monitoring patient’s health using remote medical devices for patients with or without chronic conditions.
Home medical devices and e-patients can save the Health Care System money and also enable patients to live more independently. It will also create green health by preventing what will have be pollution resulting from transportation between clinician’s offices and medical centers. Electronic medical records system will serve as a conduit linking these devices to patients and clinicians.
Traditionally, face to face and telephone communications have been the primary mechanisms for communicating health information. The emergence of new technology, internet applications, smart phone applications, social network for communications among physicians and health care organizations and between clinicians and patients continue to be another viable avenue for patient communication. E-mails have taken on increased significance as a mode of communication that is readily available to patients and health care professionals.
The use of e-mail by clinicians allow for follow-up in patients care and clarification of advice provided in professional office settings. E-mail creates a written record that removes doubt as to what information was conveyed. E-mail is especially useful for information the patient would have to commit to writing if it were given verbally; examples include test results with interpretations and advice; instructions on how to take medications or apply dressings; and pre and post-operative instructions. Some frequently used educational handouts can be ported to an e-mailer template or formatted for the clinician’s home page or the World Wide Web.
E-mail messages can also embed links to educational materials and other resources on the practice’s web site or on external sites. In some electronic mail applications, clicking on a “Live” universal resource locator link inside a message launches a web browser and takes the user directly to the indicated resource.
With the continued increased usage of computers and the internet by individuals; e-mail can be a valid, simple convenient and inexpensive mechanism for communication. It can aid the health care delivery process by allowing written follow up instructions, test results and dissemination of educational materials for patients as well as a means for patients to easily reach their physicians on routine health matters. At the same time, issues of privacy, confidentiality and security must be addressed to ensure the efficacy and effectiveness of e-mail.
As consumers, e-patients have used the internet to find out about the health delivery system as purchasers of service; 47% have looked up information about doctors, 38% have gotten information about hospital; 33% about how to lose weight; 27% about health insurance; 12% about how to stay healthy during oversea travel (Healthcareitnews, 2010).
Clearly, as technology has evolved and delivered fast, meaningful, mobile and low cost tools, patients are becoming “e-patient” they are engaging the health care delivery establishment in a new way, in what can be described as participatory medicine. Is there a direction towards which this development of e-patients and participatory medicine is heading? Are there platforms that are in a position to enable this direction? Patients, as consumers are gathering information themselves over the internet sometimes from trusted sources and sometimes from questionable sources and are forming communities among themselves in order to find meaning, support and experience in making health care decisions. Engagement with physicians and other health care providers is the logical next step in this evolution. Health professional when actively engaged in the networks that patients are creating anyway, can provide context and meaning.
Many people believe that this approach offer a potential way to save health care cost, protect the environment, and allow people to stay out of Hospitals and Nursing Homes. To drive the point of e-patients home as having the potential to thrive in the very near future, for few weeks now, I have been having problem with my left knee. I took few Motrin tablets and thought the pain will go away. When I did not get much relief, I called to schedule an appointment to see my physician at one of the Kaiser medical offices in my area. After an examination by my physician, he ordered a pain medication, some lab work and an x-ray. Because my lab work was done separately, I had to make another trip to the clinic just to review my lab result.
In the conversation that follows the meeting, the physician spends some time to talk about the benefit of establishing an account in their secured web site. I should have been able to log on and view my lab work result rather than leaving work early to drive to the clinic to see my result. We also talked about using that site to ask for clarification, refill prescription, and have the drug delivered to my home or schedule a routine appointment.
I believe that e-patients are the wave of the future. The consumer friendly Health Internet, which is still a dream in practicality is something that will be achieved fully in the very near future,
References
Guideline for physician-patient electronic communications: www.ama- assn.org/…guidelines-physician
Yellowlees, P.M. (2008). Your health in the information age: how you and your doctor can use internet to work together. I universe, Bloomington, In.
