Each time surveyors ask people if they would like to connect with their own doctors online, the answer is overwhelmingly yes. Doctors, however, have been reluctant to integrate the Internet into their practices.
It’s not that doctors have been stubborn or unintelligent — to date most Internet applications have not been well-suited to the task (email, for instance has not been adequately encrypted for confidential doctor-patient communication).
But it’s time for change. We are now at a stage where online connections make increasing sense. I’ve written a humorous piece called “Computers, Doctors, and Toilet Training” that you can read (or better — listen to) at Medscape.com. This is an amusing look at what it will take to get doctors “computer-trained”.