There's a great piece on 33 Charts this morning about how the the widespread availability of medical information on the web - good and bad - can affect doctor-patient interactions. Recounting an early interaction with a patient's father who had come to the exam room armed with research from the web, Bryan Vartabedian, MD, writes:
I recall this [experience] so vividly because it was the first time that a parent insisted that their own information should supercede better clinical judgment and the clear individual needs of a child. In hindsight, I believe, there was more to the encounter than a dialog surrounding a procedure. This visit was about a young father’s newfound capacity to defy a system that for years has marginalized patients.
His analysis of that situation is very smart. (Shameless plug: Vartabedian will also be a moderator at the upcoming Stanford Summit @ Medicine 2.0.)
Previously: Patient self-diagnosis: From the browser to the exam room
