In a timely and coincidental response to my blog post from last week about how physicians are changing the way they were taught in medical school, Google Health has released research on how physicians utilize the internet in their practices.  In view of the volume of information that exist for physicians to have, it makes sense that the majority of them seek the internet as a resource.

If you are a physician, this information may be of interest to compare your personal practice to those of your peers.  If you are an organization that works with physicians, this information may help you reach out to physicians and/or help make sure physicians have what they need to enhance their practice of medicine.

Connecting with Physicians Online is the name of the research report.  The report was just released (November 2009).  The survey took place in May and June of 2009 and 411 physicians completed the survey.  Physicians had to be in practice for at least two years and 75% of their time needed to be in direct care in order to qualify for the survey.  Specialties included cardiology, endocrinology, psychiatry and primary care.

Here are some of the results:

• 86% of physicians have used the internet to collect medical or drug information.
• The internet exceeds other traditional methods of information resources (online CME courses, peer review journals, colleagues, books, etc.)
• The office or practice setting is the most common place of internet engagement (92%) followed closely by the home (88%) and then by mobile applications (59%).
• 58% access the internet more than once each day.
• 70% spent three minutes or less researching a patient scenario.
• 78% use two or more websites in their search.
• Most physicians take action as a result of their research with 31% making a change in patient’s medication and another 30% initiate treatment and 32% conduct further testing.
• 71% of physicians use a search engine versus a website to initiate their search.
• 78% of physicians use 2 to five words for their searches.
• Most physicians conduct one search, click on the top of the results page for the link they are looking for.
• They find their results quickly with 52% reviewing only one search result.