Visit any health care Web site, type in symptoms as common as fever, chills, and achy joints, and the results could be anything ranging from the common cold, to hepatitis, to Brucellosis, a disease caused by contact with farm animals carrying the Brucella bacteria. The myriad of sources available on-line for patients, families and doctors has grown along with the information superhighway, leaving some to wonder if is a double- edged sword.
”There is a lot out there,” said Steven DeToy, director of Government and Public Affairs for the Rhode Island Medical Society. “It’s certainly appropriate for patients to get information whenever and wherever they can. But they shouldn’t substitute that for a relationship with a physician.”
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Arthur Frazzano, clinical associate professor of Family Medicine at Brown University agreed. “Data presented in the raw form, which much of the information on the Internet is, is very misleading to people that don’t have the knowledge to evaluate it.”
In fact many of the Web sites tell visitors to see a doctor to get a true diagnosis. On the MSN.com Web site, where the above diagnosis came from a disclaimer, located at the bottom of the page said, “The information provided herein should not be used for diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition.”
But, DeToy said by the time many people get there, they are already convinced they have a disease as rare as Brucellosis.
”It’s clearly one of the greatest concerns that people are getting so upset about what they read,” he said. “That’s why it is important for patients to take everything they find back to their primary physician.”
Frazzano said there are both positive and negative aspects to patients surfing the net for information.
”The benefit is that patients can look things up, and many of them will seek the care of a physician because the site says to,” he said. “But the patient can then be wrongly critical of their physician if that physician doesn’t do everything the Web site suggests.”
DeToy said Internet savvy patients must also be careful about getting medication on-line.
”Consumers need to beware that just because it’s on the Internet doesn’t give it any more validity than the junk mail that comes to your house, or the unsolicited phone calls you get,” he said. “It’s downright dangerous.”
Frazzano said many patients often look for prescriptions on the Internet because they often carry a lesser price tag.
”You can get good prices on the Internet because they don’t have a store and a whole lot of pharmacists to pay,” he said. “The problem is that they are very poorly regulated and may be kind of shady.”
It’s these concerns that may be keeping some people off the Internet when it comes to their health. According to a recent study conducted by the California HealthCare Foundation and the Internet Healthcare Coalition among 1,009 on-line adult Americans, the average user is both “concerned over the privacy of health information and suspicious of the ethics of health Web sites.”
The survey found that 17 percent of those polled wouldn’t even use the Internet to search for health-related information.
Laws regulating on-line health care vary from state to state. In Rhode Island, anyone who practices medicine, prescribes medication, or is making health diagnoses in the state of Rhode Island, must be registered in the state – even if they are only doing so through a computer screen.
”In order to deliver any kind of care to patients in Rhode Island (he or she) has to have a Rhode Island medical license,” DeToy said. “Unfortunately, if someone gets on the Internet they often don’t know.”
Last week, the Rhode Island Department of Health launched “License 2000,” a new automated licensing system that provides public access to licensing information through its Web site.
”The beauty of License 2000 is that it’s easy and effective,” said Dr. Patricia A. Nolan, director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. Easy because health professionals and other licensees will be able to apply for or renew Health licenses over the Internet using a charge card for payment. Consumers can get up to date information about health care providers, including professional and disciplinary actions over the past 10 years.”
Frazzano believes the growing popularity of the Internet and the passage of more regulatory measures like License 2000 will only make the field of medicine stronger.
“Clinically, the Internet is very helpful to me,” he said. “I can go right to the computer get the latest articles, evaluate the evidence, and practice a much higher grade of medicine”
