The impact of the Internet on the doctor-patient relationship

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study of 300 randomly selected obstetricians and gynaecologists in the United Kingdom to assess their perception of the effect of Internet usage by patients on the doctor-patient relationship. It also considers their perception of the extent of patients’ Internet usage, the quality of the information on the Internet and the need for Internet access and training in hospitals. Results showed that respondents accepted that the Internet might lead to patients being better informed than themselves with 40 per cent feeling that this may damage the doctor-patient relationship. Despite this 90 per cent believed that providing more and better information to patients was good. Respondents were aware that patients used the Internet for medical information but felt that their own patients’ usage was low and that the quality of information was variable. Use of the Internet was thought to be beneficial for patients but could confuse them, leading to unrealistic expectations and increased medical litigation. Most respondents think all doctors should be Internet trained, but only a minority had training programmes in their hospitals. Respondents want Internet training to be more widely available.