Two-thirds of physicians use Web in clinical practice
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* Shelley Martin

*   © 2004 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors

Sixty-six percent of clinically active Canadian physicians use the Internet as a tool or source of information to support treatment or in direct patient care, according to the CMA's 2003 Physician Resource Questionnaire (PRQ). However, almost three-quarters (73%) of physicians who use the Internet do so mainly from home; only 20% conduct most of their online activities at work.

![Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/170/1/28.1/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/content/170/1/28.1/F1)

Figure. 

In fact, less than two-thirds of all physicians (62%) have Internet access at work, and 5.8% of those who have such access do not use it. Those who have access at their workplace are highly likely (78%) to use the Internet to support clinical practice, although the majority (62%) still go online from home. Interestingly, almost half (48%) of those without access at work still use the Internet as a tool in their practices.

Specialists are more likely (75%) to have access at their office or clinical practice than GP/FPs (55%) or surgical specialists (57%). Not surprisingly, specialists are also more likely (78%) to use the Internet as a tool in clinical practice than surgical specialists (67%) or GP/FPs (59%).

Overall, 88% of Canadian physicians personally use the Internet, statistically unchanged from the 2002 PRQ findings. Physicians under age 35 are most likely to use it in clinical practice (81%), and those aged 65 and older are the least likely (48%). Future Pulse columns will discuss the manner in which physicians use the Internet in practice, and barriers to and incentives for its use.

The PRQ is Canada's largest annual survey of the professional activities of physicians. The 2003 survey was mailed to a random sample of 7922 doctors, and the response rate was 28.4%. Results at the national level are considered accurate to within ±2.1%, 19 times out of 20. — *Shelley Martin*, Senior Analyst, CMA Research, Policy and Planning