Are MDs falling behind as demand for info grows?

Physicians now trail the combined popularity of several other sources, including the Internet, as Canadians‚ major source of medical information, but they remain the most trusted resource. In addition, the information they provide is deemed the most useful.

In a recent survey of 2580 Canadians by PricewaterhouseCoopers, 45% of respondents indicated that tools such as the Internet, medical journals and newsletters, brochures or print and electronic media coverage are their prime sources of health information, while just 33% cited a physician as their number-one resource. The findings were published in a recent issue of the HealthInsider, a research report on consumer health issues.

”Our findings would suggest that the amount of information physicians are supplying is not necessarily keeping up with consumers‚ demand,” says Dale McMurchy, a senior health care consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and author of the HealthInsider.

”And while patients are going elsewhere for information,” adds McMurchy, ”this raises the whole issue of information quality. Physicians need to take a larger, more proactive role here, for example by being familiar with and recommending specific journal articles and Web sites.”

Although respondents invariably reported that their doctor is a trustworthy information source, less than 5% rated the media as a very trustworthy resource; Web sites scored an 8% rating.

Similarly, physicians were cited as a ”very useful” information source by nearly 60% of survey respondents. The media were deemed a very useful information source by 15% of respondents, Web sites by 35%. —