Guest guest Posted October 9, 2002 Report Share Posted October 9, 2002 Mercola.com Dr. ph Mercola All Health, No Hype FREE Weekly Health Newsletter Your Email Address: Previous Newsletters Issue 366 October 9, 2002 Enzyme to Control Gluten Intolerance Health Information on the Internet My Free EFT Manual Mercury/Seafood Link to Infertility Pets Can Help Relieve Stress Breast Implants on the Rise Bioenergetic Triggerpoint Therapy Google News Diabolical Vaccine Law Proposed Health Resources Eating Plan Less Grains / Sugars More Omega 3 More Water Emotional Health Effective Sleep Home New Patients Recommended Products Health Information on the Internet The Rise Of Consumerism -- Impact of the Internet Information technologies have fueled another societal trend that will continue to have an impact on the health care workforce. The flag bearer of this trend is the Internet, which brings information access and interpersonal communication on an unprecedented scale to hundreds of millions of persons worldwide. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, as of September 2001, 143 million Americans, or about 54 percent of the population, were using the Internet, and new users were adopting the technology at a rate of more than two million per month. The continued insinuation of computer and network use into the fabric of society is assured by observations that 90 percent of US children between the ages of five and seventeen now use computers at home and at school. A 1997 survey of Internet users found that 65 percent had sought health information at least once, and more than a third used the Internet to find health information regularly. The sight of a patient sitting in the waiting room reading printouts from health-related Web sites in preparation for presenting them to the doctor has become common in health care settings, a practice that some practitioners encourage and others dread. The rise of consumerism in health care moves toward positioning the patient as the final authority for choosing among diagnostic and treatment alternatives and the health professional, to a role akin to "tech support" for purposes of explanation of alternatives and interpretation of medical terms and concepts. Effects On The Health Care Workforce For the foreseeable future, the "graying of America" that will usher the postwar baby boomers into their retirement years will increase the need for health services, both traditional and novel. This demand should fuel growth of all health professions, including physicians, nurses, and allied health professions. The forces of ubiquitous communication and computing technologies and access to information do not appear at this point to be sufficient to cause the extinction of any current type of health professional. Among health professionals there will certainly be winners and losers, however, and the emergence of new categories of jobs. As health practitioners serve as advisers and teachers, their communication and teaching skills will be highly valued by empowered and knowledgeable consumers; failure to communicate effectively will be likely to place a health care provider at an economic disadvantage. New Occupations Obtaining and synthesizing information from electronic sources are time-consuming tasks, which explains in part why physicians and other health professionals underuse the information sources now available to them. More than thirty years ago a modification of the traditional role of the reference librarian, called the "clinical librarian," brought an information access specialist into the hospital wards as part of the medical care team, to identify questions related to the care of individual patients for which additional information was needed and to find that information from printed or online sources. Personal health advocates and advisers While physicians and other health professionals may not wish to avail themselves of expert help in finding relevant information, it can be predicted that some of the lay public will. Personal health advocate and personal health adviser services targeted at providing tailored education for an individual's unique combination of health problems and concerns are an obvious commercial opportunity for an educated populace connected by a global Internet. These intermediaries, who would not themselves provide health care services but would help others to understand their medical conditions and also negotiate the complexities of selecting and using appropriate health care services, could eventually have their own basis for credentialing and licensure if viewed by state medical boards as a form of medical practice. Continuing Education The thorniest problem arising from the explosion of medical knowledge and its implications for medical decision making is the retraining of the existing health care workforce. In most practice settings, licensed health professionals can simply avoid information technologies if they so choose. Physicians, nurses, and other professionals who do not use online sources to get up-to-date information are practicing within a professional standard of care that will need to change as the complexity of clinical decision making escalates. In the coming era of "personal genomics," where one's own DNA sequence is used to select the correct drug from among hundreds of alternatives, computers will be essential intellectual amplifiers for health professionals. The systematic correlation of treatments delivered with health outcomes, an utterly obvious step for continuous quality improvement that is largely missing from today's health care environment, other than in research studies, requires the use of standardized electronic medical records. And effective electronic medical records require the direct participation of health care providers in their creation, maintenance, and interpretation. The health professional who refuses to use a computer is a justifiably endangered species in this emerging environment, but new methods are needed to add competency in information management and technology use for mid-career professionals. This goes beyond simple computer literacy and includes knowledge of the principles of information retrieval, clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, and how to critically appraise the published literature. Since the best teachers are role models, an opportunity will exist for a new specialty within the health care workforce of technology and information science educators, who are themselves health professionals with extensive expertise and experience in the application of these knowledge management tools to health services delivery. Existing short courses and degree programs for already licensed health professionals are harbingers of a more systematic approach to the retraining of mid-career professionals. The growth of biomedical knowledge and the ubiquitous availability of computer-based information access and knowledge management tools will expand the types of jobs in the health care workforce and provide new business opportunities for support industries. No current category of health professional appears to face extinction, but pressure will mount to abandon the current model of autonomous practitioners depending upon their personal memory and experience to deliver optimal care. Empowered consumers and a glut of health information available via the Internet will lead to continued growth of nontraditional and alternative health products and services and to a remodeling of the relationship between providers and patients. In health care as much as or more than in other human endeavors, knowledge is power, and the redistribution of access to knowledge will mean an inevitable redistribution of power over the decisions that affect the delivery of health care and the makeup of the health care workforce. Health Affairs September / October 2002 DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: This is an excellent overview of what is coming in medicine. The last paragraph is the main point of the article, and is in synch with my vision for medicine. Indeed, knowledge is power, and that is what I have sought to provide you for over five years in this no-cost-to-you format. All of my past newsletters are provided to you at no charge so we can begin to seed the soil for the massive health care transformation. This is also from the above article: "As of this writing Medline contains about 11.7 million citations and is growing at the rate of more than 400,000 new entries per year. A wry observation about this volume is that a conscientious practitioner who reads two articles each evening will, at the end of a year, be approximately 550 years behind in keeping up with the literature. A more reasonable and disquieting observation is that even if only 1 percent of the new literature is relevant to health care delivery, that same provider is potentially five years behind the current state of knowledge." These amazing facts make it crystal clear that it is absolutely impossible for any single human to know all that is possible to address a problem. That is where the absolute beauty and enormous potential power of the Internet and brainstorming comes to play. The technology is finally here to pull this off. Very shortly I will be introducing a software program we have been working on for several years that is called Knowledge Filter. The program will allow us to capture the collective wisdom of tens of thousands of some of the brightest minds on the planet in natural medicine and then share that knowledge with you. Again, all free. You will be empowered with the information you need to avoid resorting to the traditional medical paradigm to solve your health concerns. If you are unable to implement the knowledge you have found on the new site to solve your problem the second phase of my mission is to help you identify the absolute best and brightest health care professionals that are in your hometown to help you recapture your health. This will be one very exciting ride and if you follow the suggestions to recapture your health on this site, most all of you will live long enough to see the traditional paradigm transformed. We are in for a health revolution, guaranteed. As an aside, The National Library of Medicine, that has Medline, is currently the number one health site in the world and my site is currently number 8. After the software is introduced, we aim to add to the site more articles and traffic than the National Library of Medicine. People from all over the world will be using this tool to answer their health questions and accelerate their own personal and family's journey away from disease and towards health. Related Articles: Spreading Health Information on the Net Return to Table of Contents #366 Privacy/Security Current Newsletter Contact Info ©Copyright 1997-2002 Dr. ph Mercola. . This content may be copied in full, with copyright; contact; creation; and information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not-for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Dr. Mercola is required. Disclaimer - Newsletters are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola. They are not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and they are not intended as medical advice. They are intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 9, 2002 Report Share Posted October 9, 2002 Hi Ethel, This is a great article.I am all for people taking vharge as it is a sad affair now. More docshave no clue about all that there is out there.The smart ones welcome whatyou bring them. Love Marge > Health Information on the Internet 10/9/02 > Mercola.com > > > > Dr. ph Mercola > > > All Health, No Hype > > > > > FREE Weekly Health Newsletter > Your Email Address: > > > > Previous Newsletters > > > > Issue 366 > > October 9, 2002 > > Enzyme to Control Gluten Intolerance > > Health Information on the Internet > > My Free EFT Manual > > Mercury/Seafood Link to Infertility > > Pets Can Help Relieve Stress > > Breast Implants on the Rise > > Bioenergetic Triggerpoint Therapy > > Google News > > Diabolical Vaccine Law Proposed > > > Health Resources > > Eating Plan > > Less Grains / Sugars > > More Omega 3 > > More Water > > Emotional Health > > Effective Sleep > > > Home New Patients Recommended Products > > Health Information on the Internet > > > The Rise Of Consumerism -- Impact of the Internet > > Information technologies have fueled another societal trend that will continue to have an impact on the health care workforce. The flag bearer of this trend is the Internet, which brings information access and interpersonal communication on an unprecedented scale to hundreds of millions of persons worldwide. > > According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, as of September 2001, 143 million Americans, or about 54 percent of the population, were using the Internet, and new users were adopting the technology at a rate of more than two million per month. > > The continued insinuation of computer and network use into the fabric of society is assured by observations that 90 percent of US children between the ages of five and seventeen now use computers at home and at school. > > A 1997 survey of Internet users found that 65 percent had sought health information at least once, and more than a third used the Internet to find health information regularly. > > The sight of a patient sitting in the waiting room reading printouts from health-related Web sites in preparation for presenting them to the doctor has become common in health care settings, a practice that some practitioners encourage and others dread. > > The rise of consumerism in health care moves toward positioning the patient as the final authority for choosing among diagnostic and treatment alternatives and the health professional, to a role akin to " tech support " for purposes of explanation of alternatives and interpretation of medical terms and concepts. > > Effects On The Health Care Workforce > > For the foreseeable future, the " graying of America " that will usher the postwar baby boomers into their retirement years will increase the need for health services, both traditional and novel. This demand should fuel growth of all health professions, including physicians, nurses, and allied health professions. > > The forces of ubiquitous communication and computing technologies and access to information do not appear at this point to be sufficient to cause the extinction of any current type of health professional. > > Among health professionals there will certainly be winners and losers, however, and the emergence of new categories of jobs. As health practitioners serve as advisers and teachers, their communication and teaching skills will be highly valued by empowered and knowledgeable consumers; failure to communicate effectively will be likely to place a health care provider at an economic disadvantage. > > New Occupations > > Obtaining and synthesizing information from electronic sources are time-consuming tasks, which explains in part why physicians and other health professionals underuse the information sources now available to them. More than thirty years ago a modification of the traditional role of the reference librarian, called the " clinical librarian, " brought an information access specialist into the hospital wards as part of the medical care team, to identify questions related to the care of individual patients for which additional information was needed and to find that information from printed or online sources. > > Personal health advocates and advisers > > While physicians and other health professionals may not wish to avail themselves of expert help in finding relevant information, it can be predicted that some of the lay public will. Personal health advocate and personal health adviser services targeted at providing tailored education for an individual's unique combination of health problems and concerns are an obvious commercial opportunity for an educated populace connected by a global Internet. > > These intermediaries, who would not themselves provide health care services but would help others to understand their medical conditions and also negotiate the complexities of selecting and using appropriate health care services, could eventually have their own basis for credentialing and licensure if viewed by state medical boards as a form of medical practice. > > Continuing Education > > The thorniest problem arising from the explosion of medical knowledge and its implications for medical decision making is the retraining of the existing health care workforce. In most practice settings, licensed health professionals can simply avoid information technologies if they so choose. > > Physicians, nurses, and other professionals who do not use online sources to get up-to-date information are practicing within a professional standard of care that will need to change as the complexity of clinical decision making escalates. In the coming era of " personal genomics, " where one's own DNA sequence is used to select the correct drug from among hundreds of alternatives, computers will be essential intellectual amplifiers for health professionals. > > The systematic correlation of treatments delivered with health outcomes, an utterly obvious step for continuous quality improvement that is largely missing from today's health care environment, other than in research studies, requires the use of standardized electronic medical records. And effective electronic medical records require the direct participation of health care providers in their creation, maintenance, and interpretation. > > The health professional who refuses to use a computer is a justifiably endangered species in this emerging environment, but new methods are needed to add competency in information management and technology use for mid-career professionals. > > This goes beyond simple computer literacy and includes knowledge of the principles of information retrieval, clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, and how to critically appraise the published literature. Since the best teachers are role models, an opportunity will exist for a new specialty within the health care workforce of technology and information science educators, who are themselves health professionals with extensive expertise and experience in the application of these knowledge management tools to health services delivery. > > Existing short courses and degree programs for already licensed health professionals are harbingers of a more systematic approach to the retraining of mid-career professionals. > > The growth of biomedical knowledge and the ubiquitous availability of computer-based information access and knowledge management tools will expand the types of jobs in the health care workforce and provide new business opportunities for support industries. > > No current category of health professional appears to face extinction, but pressure will mount to abandon the current model of autonomous practitioners depending upon their personal memory and experience to deliver optimal care. > > Empowered consumers and a glut of health information available via the Internet will lead to continued growth of nontraditional and alternative health products and services and to a remodeling of the relationship between providers and patients. > > In health care as much as or more than in other human endeavors, knowledge is power, and the redistribution of access to knowledge will mean an inevitable redistribution of power over the decisions that affect the delivery of health care and the makeup of the health care workforce. > > Health Affairs September / October 2002 > > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: > > This is an excellent overview of what is coming in medicine. The last paragraph is the main point of the article, and is in synch with my vision for medicine. > > Indeed, knowledge is power, and that is what I have sought to provide you for over five years in this no-cost-to-you format. All of my past newsletters are provided to you at no charge so we can begin to seed the soil for the massive health care transformation. > > This is also from the above article: > > " As of this writing Medline contains about 11.7 million citations and is growing at the rate of more than 400,000 new entries per year. A wry observation about this volume is that a conscientious practitioner who reads two articles each evening will, at the end of a year, be approximately 550 years behind in keeping up with the literature. > > A more reasonable and disquieting observation is that even if only 1 percent of the new literature is relevant to health care delivery, that same provider is potentially five years behind the current state of knowledge. " > > These amazing facts make it crystal clear that it is absolutely impossible for any single human to know all that is possible to address a problem. That is where the absolute beauty and enormous potential power of the Internet and brainstorming comes to play. The technology is finally here to pull this off. > > Very shortly I will be introducing a software program we have been working on for several years that is called Knowledge Filter. The program will allow us to capture the collective wisdom of tens of thousands of some of the brightest minds on the planet in natural medicine and then share that knowledge with you. > > Again, all free. You will be empowered with the information you need to avoid resorting to the traditional medical paradigm to solve your health concerns. > > If you are unable to implement the knowledge you have found on the new site to solve your problem the second phase of my mission is to help you identify the absolute best and brightest health care professionals that are in your hometown to help you recapture your health. > > This will be one very exciting ride and if you follow the suggestions to recapture your health on this site, most all of you will live long enough to see the traditional paradigm transformed. > > We are in for a health revolution, guaranteed. > > As an aside, The National Library of Medicine, that has Medline, is currently the number one health site in the world and my site is currently number 8. After the software is introduced, we aim to add to the site more articles and traffic than the National Library of Medicine. People from all over the world will be using this tool to answer their health questions and accelerate their own personal and family's journey away from disease and towards health. > > Related Articles: > > Spreading Health Information on the Net > > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > Return to Table of Contents #366 > > > > > Privacy/Security Current Newsletter Contact Info > > > ©Copyright 1997-2002 Dr. ph Mercola. All Rights Reserved. This content may be copied in full, with copyright; contact; creation; and information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not-for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Dr. Mercola is required. > > > Disclaimer - Newsletters are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola. They are not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and they are not intended as medical advice. They are intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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