Source: www.medscape.com
Author: staff

More than half of Americans looked up  health information on the Internet last year, U.S. government researchers reported on Tuesday. But only 5% used email to communicate with their doctors, the survey  by the National Center for Health Statistics found. The survey included 7,192 adults aged 18 to 64 questioned between  January and June 2009.

During that period, 51% “had used the Internet to look up health  information during the past 12 months,” the center, part of the U.S.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement.

“Among adults aged 18-64, women were more likely than men to look up  health information on the Internet (58% versus 43%) and were also more  likely to use online chat groups to learn about health topics (4%  versus 2.5%).”

The survey found 6% of adults requested a refill of a prescription on  the Internet, and almost 3% had made an appointment with a healthcare  provider in the previous 12 months using the Internet.

Other researchers have found doctors are reluctant to use the Internet  or email to communicate with patients because of concerns about  privacy as well as confusion about how to charge for their time.