Can informed and enabled patients contribute to better outcomes?
Yes, I believe so. Earlier patients were not well informed about their conditions, disease progression, medications, their side effects and the onus was entirely on the physicians to extract necessary information from patient and care-givers for treatment related decision-making. Extracting clinically significant information was a challenge in with language/cultural barriers coming into play or a patient who is inarticulate or unobservant about relevant signs and symptoms. With information explosion in the wake of internet wave, now a large number of patients visit physicians with prior research on their signs and symptoms as well as treatment options.
Eighty-five percent of online adults from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain report using the Internet to find health and prescription drug information, according to a new Manhattan Research survey and 67% of U.S. adults reported having searched for health information online according to a new Harris Interactive survey.
Physicians have genuine concern regarding the veracity of all the information that their patients are exposed to on internet. They also have to deal with unprecedented queries regarding diagnosis, treatment options, side-effect of medications etc. Discouraging patients to seek information online would be counter-productive to patient enablement. Physicians continue to be the most trusted source of health information for patients. They can support patients in their health education by guiding them towards reliable websites and addressing their queries.
An informed patient actively participates in health care and contributes to better outcomes by:
• Being more aware of signs and symptoms
• Clearer articulation of problem history and current complaints
• Better medication compliance
• Informing physicians about their unique response to a treatment protocol
• Observing side effects and improvements in condition
• Better ongoing health maintenance through diet compliance, exercises and recommended lifestyle changes
Additionally, patients perceive more empathy and have greater satisfaction from physician visit if the physician spends time to explain them about their disease and how to cope with it. Particularly in case of chronic diseases, it is critically important to enable patients and their care givers in disease management. Patients can be true partners of their physicians in managing chronic diseases if they are well informed about cause of disease, what aggravates it, what to expect from treatment, what are acceptable side effects and when to seek medical attention. Evidence suggests that enabling patients for chronic disease self-management results in improved health outcomes and reduced hospitalization. Informed and experienced patients or care-givers can in turn enable other patients leveraging Health 2.0 platform. About 35% of U.S. adults used social media for health and medical purposes in 2009 according to the Manhattan Research survey. 80 million U.S. adults in 2009 created or consumed health care content on blogs, chat rooms, message boards, online communities, online social networks and patient testimonials.
Comments
Even though information openness would help patient leverage health decisions, the primary factor for patients when it comes to their health is cost of healthcare. Information overload leads to increased OT purchases to avoid physician office visit. This is adding healthcare costs at micro level. Health2.0 can be beneficial only and ony if they are backed by scientific community(physicians) owned websites or microsites.
Posted by: Ramanujam Venugopalan | February 18, 2010 05:08 AM
Precise collection of information supported by data. I agree, in current scenario of internet, mobile phones, etc., patients as well as the providers both are well informed and can be accessed in needed times.
Posted by: Tabish Khan | February 25, 2010 09:00 AM