Survey: Internet the fastest-growing source for health info

Aug/27/2008 11:51

A study by the Center for Studying Health System Change finds 56% of American adults got health care information in 2007 from a source other than their physician, up from 38% in 2001. The percentage of people using the Internet for health care information grew the fastest, from 16% in 2001 to 32% in 2007.

Stephen Levinson, M.D. says "The fact that patients are turning elsewhere for medical information is not surprising. The 75% underpayment for services by Medicare and insurers is masking a vast undersupply of physicians and requiring physicians to spend so little time with their patients that there is insufficient time to listen and/or communicate.

He continues "We are dealing with the consequences of "Medicaidization" of our entire healthcare system, and the victims include patients, physicians, communication, personal healthcare, and REAL quality. Our healthcare system has been starved by inadequate payment, which paradoxically leads to increased overall costs as well as decreased access and dimiinished quality."

Are physicians now trying to turn as many patients possible to make ends meet and are patients being shortchanged? Here in California it's getting harder to get appointments with physicians and more and more "walk in" physician offices " seem to be opening. These offices advertise immediate medical care without an appointment and usually have 2-4 physicians working on site to see as many patients as possible.

In the meantime health sites have doubled in number since 2005, according to Web tracker Hitwise, and offer up a host of possible conditions, medical advice, treatments and doctor referrals. The most popular sites include WebMD, Steve Case's Revolution Health and MayoClinic.com. All told, health sites had 69 million U.S. visitors in the month of July, according to comScore. All signs point to continued growth in the digital health arena as rising concerns about the nation's crumbling health care system are prompting consumers to seek more information and help on their own.