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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."^{citation needed}

e-patients are increasingly active in their care and are demonstrating the power of the Participatory Medicine or Health 2.0 / Medicine 2.0¹. model of care. They are equipped, enabled, empowered, engaged, equals, emancipated and experts.^{citation needed}

• 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.^{citation needed}

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.²³
• Since the advent of the Internet, many clinicians have underestimated the benefits and overestimated the risks of online health resources for patients.⁴⁵⁶
• Medical online support groups have become an important healthcare resource.^{citation needed}
• 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.^{citation needed}
• This is one the most important cultural medical revolution of the past century, mediated and driven by technology.^{citation needed}
• The impact of the e-Patient cannot be fully understood and appreciated in the context of pre-internet medical constructs.^{citation needed} 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.^{citation needed} European countries seem to lag.^{citation needed}

See also

• Virtual patient
• Doctor-patient relationship

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (May 2008)

• Ferguson T, Frydman G (May 2004). "The first generation of e-patients". BMJ 328 (7449): 1148–9. doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7449.1148. PMID 15142894. PMC 411079. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7449/1148. 
• Hoch D, Ferguson T (August 2005). "What I've learned from E-patients". PLoS Med. 2 (8): e206. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020206. PMID 16060721. 
• van Woerkum CM (1 April 2003). "The Internet and primary care physicians: coping with different expectations". Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 77 (4 Suppl): 1016S–1018S. PMID 12663310. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/77/4/1016S. 
• Podiatry Online: Accommodating the Internet-Savvy Patient
• Susannah Fox, Pew Internet & American Life Project (2004-09-27). "Today’s E-Patients: Hunters and Gatherers of Health Information Online". http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/27/presentation_display.asp. 
• Laura Landro, Senior Editor, The Wall Street Journal (June 13, 2007). "The Growing Clout of Online Patient Groups" (PDF). http://liferaftgroup.com/docs/WSJ_online_patient_groups.pdf. 

• Rimer BK, Lyons EJ, Ribisl KM, et al. (July 2005). "How new subscribers use cancer-related online mailing lists". J. Med. Internet Res. 7 (3): e32. doi:10.2196/jmir.7.3.e32. PMID 15998623. PMC 1550655. http://www.jmir.org/2005/3/e32/. 
• Meier A, Lyons EJ, Frydman G, Forlenza M, Rimer BK (2007). "How cancer survivors provide support on cancer-related Internet mailing lists". J. Med. Internet Res. 9 (2): e12. doi:10.2196/jmir.9.2.e12. PMID 17513283. PMC 1874721. http://www.jmir.org/2007/2/e12. 
• Feder J (2008). "A reader and author respond to "ePatients: engaging patients in their own care"". Medscape J Med 10 (2): 46; author reply 46. PMID 18382715. 

External links

• The rise of the e-patient, Lee Rainie from the Pew Internet and American Life Project presentation at the Medical Library Association, Oct 7, 2009
• E-patients With a Disability or Chronic Disease, from the Pew Internet and American Life Project
• Association of Cancer Online Resources (ACOR), an aggregate of e-patient online communities for knowledge-sharing about cancer.
• E-Patients Prefer eGroups to Doctors for 10 of 12 Aspects of Health Care. 1999 article by Dr. Tom Ferguson.
• Time Magazine article: "When the patient is a Googler" - Mary Shomons response - Trisha Torreys response
• Who Cares Booklet by the Federal Trade Commission, a guide to health information

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