E-Patient

e-Patients (also known as Internet Patient, or Internet-savvy Patient) are health consumers who use the Internet to gather information about a medical condition of particular interest to them. The term encompasses both those who seek online guidance for their own ailments and the friends and family members (e-Caregivers) who go online on their behalf. e-Patients report two effects of their online health research: "better health information and services, and different (but not always better) relationships with their doctors."Fact|date=May 2008

e-patients are increasingly active in their care and are demonstrating the power of the Participatory Medicine model of care. They are equipped, enabled, empowered, engaged, equals, emancipated and experts.Fact|date=May 2008

* Equipped with the skills to manage their own condition.
* Enabled to make choices about self-care and those choices are respected.
* Empowered
* Engaged patients are engaged in their own care
* Equals in their partnerships with the various physicians involved in their care
* Emancipated
* Expert patients can improve their self-rated health status, cope better with fatigue and other generic features of chronic disease such as role limitation, and reduce disability and their dependence on hospital care.Fact|date=May 2008

Based on the current state of knowledge on the impact of e-Patients on the healthcare system and the quality of care received:
*A growing number of people say the internet has played a crucial or important role as they helped another person cope with a major illness. [ [http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Health_Decisions_2006.pdf Finding Answers Online in Sickness and in Health, 5/2/2006, Pew Internet] .] [ [http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/content/full/53/6/356 The Impact of the Internet on Cancer Outcomes, G. Eysenbach, CA Cancer J Clin 2003; 53:356 doi: 10.3322/canjclin.53.6.356] ]
*Since the advent of the Internet, many clinicians have underestimated the benefits and overestimated the risks of online health resources for patients. [ [http://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/244/374 Are Physicians Ready for Patients With Internet-Based Health Information? J Med Internet Res 2006;8(3):e22; doi:10.2196/jmir.8.3.e22] ] [ [http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/287/21/2869 Analysis of Cases of Harm Associated With Use of Health Information on the Internet, JAMA. 2002;287:2869-2871] ]
*Medical online support groups have become an important healthcare resource.Fact|date=May 2008
*The net friendliness of clinicians and provider organizations—as rated by the e-patients they serve—is becoming an important new aspect of healthcare quality.Fact|date=May 2008
*This is one the most important cultural medical revolution of the past century, mediated and driven by technology.Fact|date=May 2008
*The impact of the e-Patient cannot be fully understood and appreciated in the context of pre-internet medical constructs.Fact|date=May 2008 Research must combine expertise from specialties that are not used to work together.

The proportion of e-Patients in selected patient populations seem to be highest in the US and Canada.Fact|date=May 2008 European countries seem to lag.Fact|date=May 2008

ee also

*Virtual patient

References

*Cite journal
url=http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7449/1148
title=The first generation of e-Patients (Editorial)
author=Ferguson, Tom
coauthors=Frydman, Gilles
format=Full Text
quotes=y
journal=BMJ
date= May 15, 2004
volume=328
pages=1148–1149
doi=10.1136/bmj.328.7449.1148
*cite journal
url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=16060721
title=What I've Learned from E-Patients
journal=PLoS medicine
author=Dan Hoch
coauthors= Tom Ferguson
date=August 2005
volume=2
issue=8
doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020206
pmid=16060721
accessdate=2006-09-27
pages=e206
*cite journal
url=http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/77/4/1016S
title=The Internet and primary care physicians: coping with different expectations
journal=American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
author=Cees MJ van Woerkum
coauthors=
date=1 April 2003
volume=77
issue=4
doi=
id=
accessdate=2006-10-04
pages=1016S–8
* [http://www.podiatryonline.com/main.cfm?pg=howto&fn=internetpt Podiatry Online: Accommodating the Internet-Savvy Patient]
*cite web
url=http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/27/presentation_display.asp
title=Today’s E-Patients: Hunters and Gatherers of Health Information Online
author=Susannah Fox, Pew Internet & American Life Project
date=2004-09-27
*cite web
url=http://liferaftgroup.com/docs/WSJ_online_patient_groups.pdf
title=The Growing Clout of Online Patient Groups
author= Laura Landro, Senior Editor, The Wall Street Journal
date=June, 13, 2007
format=PDF

*cite journal
url=http://www.jmir.org/2005/3/e32/
title=How New Subscribers Use Cancer-Related Online Mailing Lists
journal=Journal of Medical Internet Research
author=Barbara K Rimer, DrPH; Elizabeth J Lyons, MPH; Kurt M Ribisl, PhD; J Michael Bowling, PhD; Carol E Golin, MD; Michael J Forlenza, PhD; Andrea Meier, PhD
coauthors=
date=1 April 2003
volume=7
issue=3
doi=10.2196/jmir.7.3.e32
id=
accessdate=2008-04-04
pages=e32
*cite journal
url=http://www.jmir.org/2007/2/e12
title=How Cancer Survivors Provide Support on Cancer-Related Internet Mailing Lists
journal=Journal of Medical Internet Research
author=Andrea Meier, PhD; Elizabeth J Lyons, MPH; Gilles Frydman; Michael Forlenza, MPH, PhD; Barbara K Rimer, DrPH
coauthors=
date=April 2007
volume=9
issue=2
doi=10.2196/jmir.9.2.e12
id=
accessdate=2008-04-04
pages=e12
*cite journal
url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2270894
title=A Reader and Author Respond to “ePatients: Engaging Patients in Their Own Care”
journal=Medscape J Med. 2008; 10(2): 46.
author=Judy Feder, Danny Sands, MD.
coauthors=
date=February 25, 2008
volume=10
issue=2
doi=
id=
accessdate=2008-04-10
pages=46

External links

* [http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/222/report_display.asp E-patients With a Disability or Chronic Disease] , from the [http://www.pewinternet.org/ Pew Internet and American Life Project]
* [http://acor.org/ Association of Cancer Online Resources (ACOR)] , an aggregate of e-patient online communities for knowledge-sharing about cancer.
* [http://www.fergusonreport.com/articles/fr039905.htm E-Patients Prefer eGroups to Doctors for 10 of 12 Aspects of Health Care] . 1999 article by Dr. Tom Ferguson.
* [http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7449/1148 The First Generation of E-Patients] in [http://resources.bmj.com/bmj/about-bmj BMJ] (British Medical Journal)