Similarly, though so many people are using online resources to fill in gaps in their knowledge, or to help them ask the right questions, they may not be comfortable bringing it up in the consulting room.
How to Make It Work
So how can you, as a patient, bring up online information with your doctor? It sounds obvious, but first, you need a good, open relationship with them. Tell them you have been looking online, but ask for their feedback on the information, and for any useful sites they know of. We found that patients with a good doctor relationship felt able to discuss information and ideas from websites and online forums in a considered and critical manner. Importantly, it is not about the patient trying to be the doctor. Ideally, patients should bring along their information, use it to help explain their key concerns, or detail the options they’ve explored, but also make it clear that they still want and value their doctor’s input.Some of the patients we spoke to told us that they are acutely aware of their doctor’s negative feelings toward the internet. In these situations, people can be tempted to disguise the source of their information. They may pretend they got it elsewhere, or be very careful not to reveal its origin at all.
For some people we spoke to, the process of trying to integrate the results of their web searches into their communications with the doctor was frustrating, to say the least. They felt uncomfortable and embarrassed, and sometimes they held back key information. This made for unproductive meetings that were felt to be a waste of time.
There needs to be a new and more productive way to integrate online information into doctor–patient discussions. First of all, there should be better ways for patients to collect and organize accurate information online so that they can organize their thoughts and prepare for a visit.
In the consulting room itself, doctors should use the research as an opportunity to have more productive discussions and teach patients about their health issues. Patients need to question the online information source, message, and credibility. But doctors can also use the discussion as an opportunity to nudge patients to think about their health options and consider what’s important to them.
Just as a doctor is not solely responsible for the health of a patient, neither is the patient themselves. Internet research can no longer be dismissed. Even if inaccurate, it can help build a better relationship between patient and doctor, and give them both a better way to manage health in the modern world.