Unit 6 Blog Part I -
Consumer Research Technology
Today consumers carry out their own independent medical
research and health based education through the internet. This has become an all too familiar resource for
consumers who no longer wait for appointments with their physicians as personal
healthcare has become more accessible through the internet. Consumers also use the internet to perform
self diagnosis of medical symptoms with little to no medical expertise. This new wave of medical information through
technology has even gone as far as creating avenues where independent sources have
now designed their own blogs or websites that disseminate information that is
not supported by any evidenced based practice or reliable research. While this continues to be a problem in
internet technology, there are many accredited sites that are quality based
through reliable research that is provided by actual medical
practitioners. In order for the consumer
to determine which sites are accredited and qualified to provide accurate up to
date medical information one can verify whether the site is certified by the HONcode,
which is an ethical
standard aimed at offering quality health information. "The HONcode can be found on The Health on the Net Foundation (HON) website
which is a non-governmental site that founded to encourage the dissemination
of quality health information for patients and professionals and the general
public, and to facilitate access to the latest and most relevant medical data through
the use of the internet" (HON, 2015).
Most recently, a colleague of mines went on a quest researching medical
information on the web regarding Gastroesophageal
Reflux Disease (GERD). His reasoning
behind this was because he had just been diagnosed with GERD upon having a esophagogastroduodenoscopy
(EGD) test. He asked me what my educated
opinion was about the reliability and validity of Wikipedia, WebMD, and
cdc.gov. I gave him an oversight about
how important it is to be aware of the unreliable medical web resources that
are available and how to check for HONcode certifications, and well as fact
checking web sources based on evidenced based practices and reliable research. I informed him that the Wikipedia was a web
source that provided information that was not necessarily supported by
qualified research and that was predominantly based on consumers medical
expertise and experiences. WebMD is an
accredited site and has four medical doctors permanently on its content board
and has won many awards in the American medical community. "WebMD itself has also been accredited
by the Utilization Review and Accreditation Commission -- a non-profit
organization dedicated to promoting quality healthcare and health information
in the U.S. -- for every year since 2001" (WebMD Reliable, 2015). However, the site is at times under scrutiny
over questions of being too commercial. The cdc.gov site is one of the highest in
quality research and measurability of accurate medical information. "CDC.gov is CDC's primary online
communication channel. Annually, there are close to 500 million page views to
the site, averaging 41 million page views per month. CDC.gov provides users
with credible, reliable health information" (cdc.gov, 2015).
References:
Our commitment to reliable health
and medical information. (n.d.). Retrieved October 6, 2015.
Is WebMD Reliable? - Learn for free
at Techboomers. (n.d.). Retrieved October 6, 2015.
(2014, May 7). cdc.gov Retrieved
October 7, 2015.
Unit 6 Blog Part II - SurveyMonkey Results
Upon reviewing the surveymonkey results, I was able
to see that the survey tool was effective in describing the effectiveness of
the presentation in terms of meeting the specific objectives that were intended
to communicate to the audience. I think
that I could have implemented more visual and interactivity into the
presentation. I believe that I would try
to implement more animation into my next presentation or graphics.
Below is the analysis of my surveymonkey. Let me know what you think…
I think you have a good point about patients diagnosing themselves at home with little to no medical expertise. Although it is great for patients to be educated, we must ensure that they are still contacting their doctor with issues. We do not want things to go unattended because the patient thinks they are okay. However, the more educated a patient is about their disease, the less readmissions we will see in the future. Hopefully we can find a happy medium!
ReplyDelete-Christine Jefferson
Hi Sandra,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post and you made great points of the overuse of the interact to self diagnose. Patients really have to be mindful where they are getting their information from. I too agree that the governmental websites would be the most beneficial. Patients need to be educated and self-manage their conditions, but using the appropriate resources.
Thanks
Cristina