Date of Award
6-2008
Document Type
Union College Only
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Melinda Goldner
Language
English
Keywords
information, doctor, health, online, relationship
Abstract
This thesis explored the impact of the use of online health information on the doctor-patient relationship. In the existing literature, some aspects of online health information have been studies extensively, such as who is searching for information, what searching strategies are being utilized, and what topics are being looked up. Even the advantages and disadvantages have been examined in various articles. However, there is little to no literature that analyzes the effect of online health information on the doctor-patient relationship. In an attempt to investigate this, patients and physicians were interviewed on the doctor-patient relationship. This thesis found that both of the interviewed patients seemed to turn to the Internet after the relationship with their doctor began to deteriorate. However, it was also found that online health information seems to make appointment times more inefficient because of the additional time required to clarify the misleading inaccurate information that patients are reading on the Internet. Thus, in order to most effectively harness the power of this new tool in the United States, various changes, such as medical school curriculums and expansion of government programs, need to be implemented.
Recommended Citation
Shah, Nirav S., "The impact of the internet on the doctor-patient relationship" (2008). Honors Theses. 1493.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1493