(Promoting partnerships: challenges for the internet age)
BMJ Volume 319 18 September 1999 pp761-4
The internet is transforming healthcare and is likely to have a profound effect on the way that patients and clinicians interact, claims Alejandro Jadad from McMaster University in Canada in this week's BMJ. In light of this transformation there are a number of challenges to be confronted in order to enable optimal partnerships to develop between patients and their doctors writes the author who details what he perceives some of these might be.
There needs to be better understanding of how both patients and clinicians actually use the internet and Jadad suggests that further research is needed in this area. The internet also has the potential to greatly alter the traditional structure of clinical practice, with consultations conducted over the web, a change which will need strong support from healthcare planners and policy-makers if it is to be successful, he says. He also notes that confidentiality is bound to be a major concern about the increased use of the internet.
The issue of equity in terms of access to technology and information is crucial says Jadad. However, he believes that new developments in technology are likely to provide affordable and fast access to telecommunications services to anyone anywhere.
Regardless of how powerful, fast or invisible technology becomes, the internet will only be valuable in promoting efficient partnerships in health care if it delivers information that is relevant, valid, engaging and ready to apply says the author.
He concludes that only through innovative alliances will we succeed in achieving optimal communication and access to high quality, relevant health information at the right time, in the right place, and in the right format, regardless of who we are.
Contact:
Alejandro Jadad, Chief, Health Information Research Unit, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatics, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada