QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: To investigate the utilisation of the Internet by primary care physicians for medical purposes during their daily practice, and to clarify the reasons for use or non-use of this technology. METHODS: Cross-sectional postal survey in German-speaking Switzerland employing a purpose-designed pre-validated 69-item questionnaire. A random sample of 2009 primary care physicians participated in the investigation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of primary care physicians with access to the Internet; reasons for using the Internet during consultations; sources of information in solving medical problems arising from concurrent patient care. RESULTS: 55% of the physicians returned the completed questionnaire. 75% of respondents reported access to the Internet. Only 7% use the Internet during patient consultations. The main reasons for not using the Internet were time pressure and concerns about potential negative interaction with physician-patient communication. To solve patient-specific problems arising during daily practice, 59% of the practitioners consult text-books or colleagues. Only 14% of respondents report regularly finding useful information on the Internet. Internet users assess information quality by checking on authorship, institution, publishing company, or whether the information is sponsored by a third party with a potential conflict of interest. CONCLUSIONS: Access to the Internet is widespread amongst German-speaking Swiss primary care physicians. Only a small minority use the Internet for information retrieval during consultation hours. Electronic information systems need to be tailored to the needs of primary care physicians.
QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: To investigate the utilisation of the Internet by primary care physicians for medical purposes during their daily practice, and to clarify the reasons for use or non-use of this technology. METHODS: Cross-sectional postal survey in German-speaking Switzerland employing a purpose-designed pre-validated 69-item questionnaire. A random sample of 2009 primary care physicians participated in the investigation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of primary care physicians with access to the Internet; reasons for using the Internet during consultations; sources of information in solving medical problems arising from concurrent patient care. RESULTS: 55% of the physicians returned the completed questionnaire. 75% of respondents reported access to the Internet. Only 7% use the Internet during patient consultations. The main reasons for not using the Internet were time pressure and concerns about potential negative interaction with physician-patient communication. To solve patient-specific problems arising during daily practice, 59% of the practitioners consult text-books or colleagues. Only 14% of respondents report regularly finding useful information on the Internet. Internet users assess information quality by checking on authorship, institution, publishing company, or whether the information is sponsored by a third party with a potential conflict of interest. CONCLUSIONS: Access to the Internet is widespread amongst German-speaking Swiss primary care physicians. Only a small minority use the Internet for information retrieval during consultation hours. Electronic information systems need to be tailored to the needs of primary care physicians.
Authors: Mariateresa Romano; Francesco Gesualdo; Elisabetta Pandolfi; Alberto E Tozzi; Alberto G Ugazio Journal: BMC Med Inform Decis Mak Date: 2012-03-28 Impact factor: 2.796