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TECHNOLOGY AND FAMILY MEDICINEAssessment of Internet Use and its Effects amongst GeneralPractitionersSyed Murtuza Hussain BakshiCorrespondence:Syed Murtuza Hussain BakshiVice Principal and Associate ProfessorDeccan School of ManagementDepartment of hospital management,Owaisi Hospital and Research Center,Hyderabad, 500058Email: murtuza_in21@yahoo.com, murtuzain21@gmail.comAbstractSeveral studies have exploredthe notion that patients use theinternet for health information.In contrast the physician’s perspectiveon the evolving internetenvironment is lacking. Thepurpose of this study is to assessand correlate the extent of internetuse among general practitionersand examine its effects on clinicalpractice. The study is explorativein nature and a Cross sectionalsurvey was conducted in the nonmetro twin cities of Hyderabadand Secunderabad using questionnairesdistributed randomlyto general practitioners. Multiplechoices, dichotomous and contingencyquestions related tothe trends of internet use and itseffects on clinical practice wereframed. The responses wereextracted and analyzed. The mainoutcome measures are self reportedrates of internet use, perceivedeffects, and the role of medicalweb sites in clinical practice. Percentageswere used to summarizethe categorical responses. A totalof 100 survey respondents weretaken all being medical practitioners.This explorative study revealedthat more patients arebecoming internet savvy which iseven influencing their informationseeking behavior on the medicalinformation that is available. Whilethe general practitioners have accessto internet they have no sayabout the quality of information onthe website; the general practitionersusually avoid patients recommendingviewing the website andextracting the information.Key words: Internet, InformationTechnology, GeneralPractitioners..IntroductionThe Internet has significantlychanged information managementin developed countries throughcreating pressures to improvecommunication systems and developmore user friendly environments forinformation sharing. Now the Internetis penetrating developing countries,and it is changing informationpractices in various sectors. TheInternet is changing traditional waysof conducting information businessby establishing new sources ofinformation and new methods ofcommunication on a global basis.The Internet has an impact ondeveloping countries, including majorissues associated with electronicinformation access and delivery. Ifyou focus on the two most populouscountries in the world, China andIndia, the internet has been widelyaccepted and used in almost everysector of the industry (T. KantiSrikantaiah & Dong Xiaoying, 1981).India is the 2nd largest in terms ofsize of population 1,173,108,018and 4th in terms of internet users81,000,000 with populationpenetration of internet at 6.9 % andexpected growth of 1,520.0 % and interms of world users we account foronly 4.1 % (Internet users worldwidestatistics report 2011).The Internetrepresents a technological revolutionthat is transforming our society. Inthe healthcare industry, physicianshave been typified as slow adoptersof information technology. However,young physicians, having beenraised in a computer-prevalentsociety, may be more likely toembrace technology (Parekh et.al,2004).Increasingly numbers of individualsaround the world are turning tothe Internet for health-relatedknowledge. An increasing numberof health-related Web sites are nowbecoming available providing up-todateanswers to medical questions.In response to this information-44 MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL OF FAMILY MEDICINE VOLUME 10 ISSUE 7MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL OF FAMILY MEDICINE • VOLUME 7, ISSUE 10
TECHNOLOGY AND FAMILY MEDICINEseeking activity, physicians haveexpressed concern regarding accessto misinformation and patients’interpretation of available onlinecontent. Many doctors believe thatonly qualified medical professionalsmay adequately assess and interpretexternal sources of information.Defensive attitudes may arise fromthe Internet having a “levelingeffect” on access to informationand, subsequently, on the patientphysicianrelationship. Peopleare likely to redefine their desiresand intentions over time becausethey frequently are uncertain.Paradoxically, a patient’s interestin knowledge may not alwaysaccompany an interest in the medicaldecision-making process (Ben SGerber & Arnold R Eiser, 2001).According to studies of patientphysicianrelationships, althoughpatients typically express a highdegree of interest in learning abouttheir illnesses and treatment, theirpreference for actual participation intreatment decision-making is highlyvariable (J P Kassirer, 2000).The internet is increasingly beingused for healthcare delivery.Health promotion and educationinterventions have been successfullydelivered online (Sharline Martin,et.al, 2002).Healthcare users are morewilling to adopt the internetfor its many potential benefits, forexample, increased efficiencies,lower cost, easier access to mediarichinformation and knowledge andfaster decision making. Present-dayhealthcare consumers, for example,demand easy access to multi-mediainformation and in-depth knowledgein order to make informed decisions.Similarly, healthcare providersand managers are interested inreducing costs while preserving andmaintaining high quality healthcare(D. Keith McInnes, et.al, 2006).The Internet will have a profoundeffect on the practice and businessof medicine. Physicians, eagerto provide high-quality care andforced by competition to offeronline services, will introduce e-mail and patient-friendly Web sitesto improve administrative servicesand manage common medicalconditions. Patients will identifymore health information onlineand will take more responsibilityfor their care. The doctor/patientrelationship will be altered: Someaspects of electronic communicationwill enhance the bond, and otherswill threaten it. Patients will haveaccess to vast information sourcesof variable validity. Many physicianorganizations are preparing for theelectronic transformation, but mostphysicians are unprepared, andmany are resistant (Akerkar SM et.al,2005).MethodsThe present study is explorative innature. A Cross sectional surveywas conducted in the non metrotwin cities of Hyderabad andSecunderabad during the monthof January 2011 to April 2011by using questionnaires whichwere distributed to 100 generalpractitioners. The sample consistsof general practitioners with basicM.B.B.S qualification and havingat least 1 year of experience. Theentire greater Hyderabad city wasdivided into east, west, north andsouth regions and from each regionequal sample respondents wereselected. The questionnaire consistsof multiple choices, dichotomous andcontingency questions related to thetrends of internet, and its effects onclinical practice were extracted andresponses were analyzed. The mainoutcome measures are self reportedrates of internet use, perceivedeffects, and the role of medical websites in clinical practice. It is largelydescriptive and categorized as anon-experimental qualitative study.The data is analyzed by MatrixAnalysis which is in the form of flowcharts, diagrams and pictoriallyrepresentation as well as writtendescriptions.DiscussionThe Demography of the study is shown left:Figure 1: Total Number of GeneralPractitioners who were part of theResearch Sex WiseMIDDLE EAST MIDDLE JOURNAL EAST OF JOURNAL FAMILY MEDICINE OF FAMILY VOLUME MEDICINE 10 ISSUE • VOLUME 7 7, ISSUE 10 45
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Page 29 and 30: MEDICINE AND SOCIET Ylaboratory inv
Page 31 and 32: EDUCATION AND TRAININGlearning capa
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