Internet will change doctor-patient relationships

NEW YORK, (Reuters Health) — Just as it revolutionized other industries, the Internet is set to change the face of healthcare as we know it. And perhaps nowhere will the effects be more pronounced than on doctor-patient relationships, a Canadian researcher predicts.
In the September 18th issue of the British Medical Journal, Alejandro R. Jadad of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, outlines 10 key challenges that must be addressed to optimize the doctor-patient relationships of the future.
“Although it is impossible to predict its evolution, recent developments indicate that the Internet will have a profound effect on the way that patients and clinicians interact,” he writes. “It will also foster a new level of knowledge among patients, enable them to have input into making decisions about their healthcare, and allow them to participate in active partners hips with many groups of decision makers.”
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