SPRING 2011 - Baptist Health South Florida

MAYBE YOU’RE CURIOUS about weight-loss
surgery and wonder what the life-changing program entails.
Perhaps your spouse needs a stent placed in a blocked artery
following a heart attack and you want to know more about the
procedure. Maybe you’re at your wit’s end with back pain.
And what exactly is a Gamma Knife, now that your friend has
been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor?
If you’re like millions of American adults, you turn to the
Internet for information about health and medical issues.
Helen Gonzalez did just that when yo-yo dieting was complicating
her weight problem and risking her health. She went
online to learn about the surgical options and found Anthony
Gonzalez, M.D., medical director of South Miami Hospital’s
Weight-loss Surgery Program. The mother of nine children
and stepchildren, Ms. Gonzalez agreed to contribute to Baptist
Health’s weight-loss surgery blog, Winning at Losing, in
the hope that sharing her experiences would help others.
Research suggests
that healthcare websites
and blogs increasingly
do make a difference.
Eight out of 10 Internet users — roughly 60 percent of
American adults — sought health information online in 2010,
according to a Health Topics report by the Pew Internet and
American Life Project. A decade ago, only 25 percent of American
adults relied on the Web for health information.
In response to the expanding use of the Internet,
Baptist Health has broadened its online offerings to
help educate patients and healthcare consumers.
“Today we’re dealing with a more educated consumer,
which makes a better patient,” said cardiologist
Ted Feldman, M.D., medical director of South
Miami Heart Center. “People are taking responsibility
for their care. We’re giving people tools to get
educated and deal with these issues in the comfort
of their own home. It’s a very exciting time.”
Many of Baptist Health’s websites feature medical
libraries with multimedia presentations, including
videos, podcasts, animations and interactive
programs. These tools allow patients and consumers
to research a wealth of topics and gain an under-
Helen Gonzalez, who has lost more
than 100 pounds, blogs about it at
SouthMiamiWeightloss.com.
A Wealth of Health
on the Web