E-patient

An e-patient (also known as Internet patient, or Internet-savvy patient) is a health consumer who uses the Internet to gather information about a medical condition of particular interest to them, and who use electronic communication tools (including Web 2.0 tools) in coping with medical conditions. The term encompasses both those who seek online guidance for their own ailments and the friends and family members (e-Caregivers) who go online on their behalf. e-Patients report two effects of their online health research: "better health information and services, and different (but not always better) relationships with their doctors."

As use of the term e-Patient has evolved, there has been less emphasis on Internet access and technology, and a contention that the "e" in "e-patient" stands for "empowered, engaged, equipped, enabled."

e-Patients are increasingly active in their care and are demonstrating the power of the Participatory Medicine or Health 2.0 / Medicine 2.0. model of care. They are equipped, enabled, empowered, engaged, equals, emancipated and experts.^{[citation needed]}

• Equipped with the skills to manage their own condition.
• Enabled to make choices about self-care and those choices are respected.
• Empowered
• Engaged patients are engaged in their own care
• Equals in their partnerships with the various physicians involved in their care
• Emancipated
• Expert patients can improve their self-rated health status, cope better with fatigue and other generic features of chronic disease such as role limitation, and reduce disability and their dependence on hospital care.

Based on the current state of knowledge on the impact of e-patients on the healthcare system and the quality of care received:

• A growing number of people say the internet has played a crucial or important role as they helped another person cope with a major illness.
• Since the advent of the Internet, many clinicians have underestimated the benefits and overestimated the risks of online health resources for patients.
• Medical online support groups have become an important healthcare resource.
• “…the net friendliness of clinicians and provider organizations—as rated by the e-patients they serve—is becoming an important new aspect of healthcare quality.”

• This is one the most important cultural medical revolution of the past century, mediated and driven by technology.
• In order to understand the impact of the e-patient, clinicians will likely need to move beyond “pre-internet medical constructs.” Research must combine expertise from specialties that are not used to work together.^{[citation needed]}
• It is crucial for medical education to take the e-patient into account, and to prepare students for medical practice that encompasses the e-patient

The proportion of e-patients in selected patient populations seem to be highest in the US and Canada.^{[citation needed]} European countries seem to lag.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• eHealth
• mHealth
• Doctor–patient relationship
• Patient opinion leader
• Virtual patient

References

• van Woerkum CM (1 April 2003). "The Internet and primary care physicians: coping with different expectations". Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 77 (4 Suppl): 1016S–1018S. PMID 12663310. 
• Podiatry Online: Accommodating the Internet-Savvy Patient
• Susannah Fox, Pew Internet & American Life Project (2004-09-27). "Today's E-Patients: Hunters and Gatherers of Health Information Online". 
• Laura Landro, Senior Editor, The Wall Street Journal (June 13, 2007). "The Growing Clout of Online Patient Groups" (PDF). 

• Rimer BK, Lyons EJ, Ribisl KM, et al. (July 2005). "How New Subscribers Use Cancer-Related Online Mailing Lists". J. Med. Internet Res. 7 (3): e32. doi:10.2196/jmir.7.3.e32. PMC 1550655. PMID 15998623. 
• Meier A, Lyons EJ, Frydman G, Forlenza M, Rimer BK (2007). "How Cancer Survivors Provide Support on Cancer-Related Internet Mailing Lists". J. Med. Internet Res. 9 (2): e12. doi:10.2196/jmir.9.2.e12. PMC 1874721. PMID 17513283. 

External links

• The rise of the e-patient, Lee Rainie from the Pew Internet and American Life Project presentation at the Medical Library Association, Oct 7, 2009
• E-patients With a Disability or Chronic Disease, from the Pew Internet and American Life Project
• Association of Cancer Online Resources (ACOR), an aggregate of e-patient online communities for knowledge-sharing about cancer.
• E-Patients Prefer eGroups to Doctors for 10 of 12 Aspects of Health Care. 1999 article by Dr. Tom Ferguson.
• Time Magazine article: "When the patient is a Googler" – Mary Shomons response – Trisha Torreys response
• Who Cares Booklet by the Federal Trade Commission, a guide to health information
• Infographic: The Empowered E-Patient summary of data focusing on e-patients developed by the Path of the Blue Eye Project, an educational initiative for health marketing communications professionals