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Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis:
An increasing portion of Americans are turning to the web for their health information—but they aren’t all looking for the same thing. Some are looking for answers to their own questions, while others are looking for questions for their providers to answer. So how does the doctor-patient relationship vary among those who bring web-health information to their providers, those who research but keep to themselves, and those who eschew the web?Methods and Results (informing the conceptual analysis):
In Spring 2014, Porter Novelli’s ConsumerStyles (a nationally-representative survey fielded with GfK’s Knowledge Panel) will field questions on using the web to look for health information (segmenting responses by those who primarily use a computer or mobile phone), and 14 agreement statements on the doctor-patient relationship and attitudes on health information. Analysis will segment Americans by three groups: 1) web health users who bring up that information to their doctors, 2) web health users who do not share that information with their doctors, and 3) non web health users—and then compare their responses to the 14 agreement statements as well as key demographic questions for profiling purposes.Conclusions:
Conclusions are pending the results of the survey, which will field April-early May 2014. Analysis will focus on key differentiating attitudes among the 14 agreement statement questions on the doctor-patient relationship and attitudes on health information to determine the mindset of the 3 web health segments.Implications for research and/or practice:
Not all users of the web for health information are the same—and looking at the doctor/patient relationship and consumption of health information among those willing to share with doctors and those who do not will give insight into how the growing body of health information on the web impacts the doctor/patient relationship.