E-health: transforming the physician/patient relationship

doi:10.1016/S1386-5056(00)00130-1

International Journal of Medical Informatics

Volume 61, Issue 1, April 2001, Pages 1-10

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1386-5056(00)00130-1 Get rights and content

Abstract

Healthcare delivery is being transformed by advances in e-health and by the empowered, computer-literate public. Ready to become partners in their own health and to take advantage of online processes, health portals, and physician web pages and e-mail, this new breed of consumer is slowly redefining the physician/patient relationship. Such changes can effect positive results like improved clinical decision-making, increased efficiency, and strengthened communication between physicians and patients. First, however, physicians and the organizations that support them must fully understand their role in the e-health revolution. Both must advance their awareness of the new consumers and their needs and define specific action items that will help them realize the benefits of e-health. Through a combination of timely research and advice, this article will aid them in fulfilling both tasks.

Introduction

John Naisbitt, one of our great futurists, has said that the new source of power is not money in the hands of a few but information in the hands of many. A modern-day Gutenberg Press, the Internet is the engine powering this transformation. Just as literacy became both an instrument of freedom and a necessity for those who could finally access books, computer literacy has become an imperative for those who wish to take part in this new information age.

The empowered, computer-literate public is exerting tremendous influence on healthcare delivery. Consumer interest in and demand for online administrative processes, information-rich Internet health portals, and access to physician web pages and e-mail has introduced a new dimension to maintaining wellness and treating disease. While doctors will hardly be rendered obsolete by these innovations, it is safe to say that the physician/patient relationship will be forever changed.

Armed with the right information, physicians can not only survive these changes, they can use e-health to improve the quality of their clinical decisions and foster true partnerships with their patients. First, however, they must have an accurate picture of e-health consumers and their needs and a clear understanding of what they and their support staff can do to help advance the transformation. At the same time, organizations must understand their role in supporting both the e-health revolution and the physician.

Section snippets

Power to the people: a snapshot of the new e-health consumer

Powered by regulatory changes like the Patient's Bill of Rights, by societal changes like increasing technoliteracy and self-reliance, and by the Internet's reinvention of the way information is accessed and managed, consumerism has become a thriving movement within the healthcare system. Healthcare organizations are moving away from a purely business to business orientation, devoting more time to business to consumer activities.

Who are these new e-health consumers organizations are targeting?

Current trends: how e-health is transforming care

Before envisioning where e-health will take us in the future, it is useful to take stock of the present. With its capacity for inexpensively retrieving information when, where, and how it is needed, the Internet is already transforming physician/patient encounters. In fact, the word ‘patient’ is being slowly replaced, at least implicitly, by ‘consumer.’ As increasing numbers of healthcare consumers demand a more active role in their own care, the two sides of the power scale are edging toward

Shaping the future: action items for physicians and organizations

Much has been written about the changes health care will undergo in the first decades of the 21st century. New knowledge of disease processes and health maintenance will change how healthcare professionals are practicing, and there will be a stronger focus on disease management, especially for chronic, high-risk conditions. At the same time, the consumer focus will create new paradigms as the process of care delivery takes a backseat to outcomes and products and services become increasingly

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