The Internet and Healthcare
Step 1 Share an example of a time in your practice when you have had concerns about information that a patient (or family member, friend, or you) has obtained from the Internet.
If you have not had such an experience, go to a consumer health information website, such as WebMD, and look up a health condition that you typically see in your practice or have seen in your clinical experiences. Consider how a patient might use this information as you answer the questions in Step 2.
Step 2 In a one-page paper, describe safety concerns related to people who seek health-related information on the Internet and explain how to evaluate the quality of health-related information on the Internet. Use the following questions as guidelines for your paper:
What was the perceived health problem, and how did you or the patient research this problem?
What health-related information was obtained?
Was the information accurate?
How did (or might) the patient interpret the information?
What did (or might) the patient do with the information obtained?
What actual or potential harm could have happened as a result of the information?
How can you evaluate the quality of health-related information on the Internet?
