To Google or Not to Google? Self-Diagnosis Online

A new article out, published this past week, indicates that 1 in 3 (U.S. study) adults have searched online for a medical diagnosis.  If you haven't seen the article you can follow this link to the Huffington Post and read it there.

There is no denying that the internet has changed medicine in more ways than one and that one of the biggest may arguably be self-diagnosis based on internet search results.  Everyone has had more than one frantic patient convinced that the rash and fever presenting simultaneously is a sure sign of impending death (as per internet searches), however, there are also times that patient's doing their own research can be beneficial in helping them to understand the ins and outs of a disease/condition that they may be facing.  It's hard not to be offended when your treatment plan is being compared against something that was searched online.  Sometimes patient's assume that you didn't recommend something because you weren't aware of it when the reality is you may have ruled it out as not being suitable.  The physician and patient interactions have changed significantly since the introduction of technology and as our culture becomes more integrated with new technology the traditional ways of how medicine works will continue to change and be challenged.

The problem is figuring out how to embrace the benefits and place boundaries around the potential issues when trying to integrate this into your practice.  There is no doubt that even physicians are more reliant on online referencing of conditions and medications, gone are the days of running to the bookshelf and dusting off the textbooks.

Here are some of our recommendations to find a healthy balance in your practice.

1.  Embrace the idea of patients willing to take some ownership over their health outcomes, as long as it's health and based in reality.  Patients increasing their knowledge and understanding of their condition is absolutely beneficial - as long as they are finding/receiving the right information. 

2.  Find some online medical sites that you feel can be trusted and help redirect patients to trusted sources, rather than last week's highlighted article on an obscure flawed study.

3.  Print out some information pages on commonly discussed conditions (hypertension, diabetes, etc.) that you can give a patient to take home and read.  This way you know exactly what they are relying on and they get to gain insight while you benefit from knowing that they are being given factual information.

4.  Keep a list of books to recommend to people who are facing chronic conditions or difficult diagnoses such as cancer.  This will give them someplace to turn to find trusted resources.

This is the information age, today more and more people are turning to the internet (most easily accessible resource) to gain information and knowledge.  The internet doesn't have to be the elephant in the room, maybe you can harness it to become beneficial for both you and your patients.