Dr. Google isn't all bad: Patient engagement might help outcomes
Columnist Yul Ejnes, MD, MACP, writes that engaged patients who take the time to learn about their conditions are more likely to be active participants in their care, which could make physicians' lives easier, not more difficult.
Physicians may feel that the Internet provides yet another barrier they must overcome in the course of doing their jobs: the ill-informed patient who has consulted “Dr. Google.”
In his monthly column at KevinMD.com, Yul Ejnes, MD, MACP, a past chair of ACP's Board of Regents, a practicing internist in Cranston, R.I., and a member of ACP Internist's editorial board, challenges that mindset. Engaged patients who take the time to learn about their conditions are more likely to be active participants in their care, which could make physicians' lives easier, not more difficult, he suggests.