A Report: Sick Folks Use the Web (Duh!)

A report from the California HealthCare Foundation says that 80 percent of consumers search the Internet for health-related information. (I'm betting it's higher for those newly diagnosed with cancer--anyone have any numbers?)

At the same time, the report says, "Relatively few patients tap the Internet to manage their care, including scheduling appointments with their doctors, filling prescriptions, or using ratings information to make choices about their doctors or hospitals." Of course, we'd be e-mailing our doctors if we could.

The report also didn't break out the numbers of people using bulletin boards, listservs, and so on.

Then it goes on to give some specifics about people in California.

Read the report:

Just Looking: Consumer Use of the Internet to Manage Care

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.