It is hard to believe that the internet search engine Google is just ten years old this year, it feels like it has been around forever. For many who have come to depend on its seemingly infinite stream of information, life without the relative youngster would certainly be a lot more challenging.
Proof that the internet and search engines like Google have permeated all areas of our daily and professional lives can also be seen in the GP surgery.
Dublin GP Dr Brian Meade uses the internet on a daily basis in his surgery to get lab results from Healthlink, and the Blackrock clinic via MediLINK. He also looks up information on travel vaccines and malaria advice from Travax.nhs.uk and accesses MSD’s website univadis.ie for information on medical issues.
h4. Fairly heavy user
Dr Meade divides his internet time equally between home and work and confesses to being ‘a fairly heavy user at home’ along with his teenage children. He cites univadis.ie, Travax and BMJ.com as his most frequently used medical websites.
As a GP trainer, the Dublin GP also finds the internet ‘really useful’ for retrieving up- to-date information on various topics for teaching sessions. With the advent of obligatory CME under the new Medical Practitioner’s Act, Dr Meade agrees that more and more Irish GPs will access e-learning packages via the web, particularly those living in remote areas.
Commenting on the influence of the internet on his day–to-day practice, Dr Meade explained that while it has not had a major impact, patients ‘certainly would see me turning to the Internet for information more often than before’.
He has however noticed an increase in the number of patients who have researched their conditions on-line before their consultation.
“I definitely see patients informing themselves before they present. It is generally positive but I do see anxious patients worry themselves to death as a result of information they have read which is taken out of context.”
Dr Meade believes that the ability to use the internet is now ‘an essential skill for GPs’ and the increased computerisation of general practice should prove to be ‘a real bonus’ to the profession.“GPs can access up-to-date information during consultations and access CME from the comfort of their own homes. It is now an essential skill for GPs,” he stated.
h4. Up-to-date advice
GP Dr Eamonn Faller from Galway also uses the internet on a daily basis to retrieve information for both himself and his patients.
This includes accessing up-to-date medical travel advice, patient information leaflets, checking GMS numbers and medical education.
Dr Faller is also one of an increasing number of Irish GPs who use the internet for translation purposes with patients that do not speak English.
In the absence of a formal national interpretation service, GPs are regularly forced to resort to the help of family members, friends, phrase books and internet-based translation programmes from Google. This is far from ideal, but can quite literally be a life-line in an emergency.
Echoing Dr Meade’s views on a likely increase of Irish GPs using elearning with the advent of obligatory CME, Dr Faller said that with proper accreditation e-learning ‘will be used more and more and would be especially useful for those in more remote practices’.
h4. Up-to-date information
“The internet has given me much more access to up-to-date information for both myself and for patients. The trick is to know where to find information which is reliable and impartial,” Dr Faller said.
The advent of the internet has also empowered patients and has allowed them to be much better informed. However, the old adage of too much information being a bad thing can also ring true as many unaccredited sites can serve to fuel the fears of the ‘worried well’.
According to the Galway GP: “I find that my job is more one of interpretation of the information that they have gleaned — more often than not, explaining why their condition is not as serious as they perceive having read information on the internet. I think it is a positive development but it creates as many ‘worried well’, as informing those who need to know.”
h4. The real benefits
According to Dr Faller, GPs are more advanced than those in the hospital sector when it comes to general IT use. “It is only when the hospital sector becomes much more IT developed that the real benefits of communicating over the internet will be realised,” he concluded.
According to Cork-based GP Dr Finbarr Corkery websites, including univadis® with its interactive anatomy section has proved hugely helpful in his consultations with patients. “It does allow me to share more with patients and to demonstrate aspects of their condition with them. It also allows me instant access to information.”
Dr Corkery also finds the internet an important tool for accessing information on support services for patients.
While the advent of the internet has not directly influenced how Dr Corkery practices medicine it has changed how he accesses information. Presumably this ease of access leads to modifications of clinical responses occurring more readily.
However Dr Corkery agreed with Dr Faller that the sharing of information between primary and secondary care is still a major barrier to the development of IT in the health service.
h4. Inputted manually
“There is not enough innovation within the system. We now need to move towards increased online communication within the system. For example, I can only access lab results online from one hospital in Cork and have no access to online radiology reports. All reports from other clinics have to be inputted manually into our practice system. There has to be a better way of collating and transferring data. Using the internet for the transfer of information would help to integrate all areas of medical practice.”
Launched in April 2007, univadis® is an innovative internet portal which brings Irish doctors up-to-date medical and general interest information that can be tailored to each user’s speciality. univadis®, is free for all doctors registered with the Medical Council and is offered as a service by Merck Sharp & Dohme Ireland (Human Health) Limited.
Available in 30 countries, univadis® has daily medical, local and world news, an online medical image atlas, 3D anatomy and advanced medical searching.
Fast free access to GPnotebook plus, TRIP database, PubMed, Braunwald PLUS and many others.
h4. Conference reports
‘Medical news is provided from Elsevier and articles from leading journals are available as well as conference reports and commentary on recent publications from leading experts.
To further strengthen its CME e-learning portfolio univadis® has launched a unique partnership with BMJ Learning in medical education through which BMJ Learning will be made available to doctors through univadis®.
* For more information visit www.univadis.ie
About Gary Culliton
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