An e-patient is a health consumer who participates fully in his/her medical care. Sometimes referred to as an "internet patient," e-patients see themselves as equal partners with their doctors in the healthcare process. E-patients gather information about medical conditions that impact them and their families, using electronic communication tools (including Web 2.0 tools) in coping with medical conditions.^[1] The term encompasses both those who seek guidance for their own ailments and the friends and family members (e-caregivers) who go online on their behalf. e-Patients report two effects of their health research: "better health information and services, and different (but not always better) relationships with their doctors."^[2]

e-Patients are active in their care and are demonstrating the power of the Participatory Medicine or Health 2.0 / Medicine 2.0.^[3] model of care. The "e" can stand for electronic but can also stand for:^[4]

• Equipped with the skills to manage their own condition.
• Enabled to make choices about self-care and those choices are respected.
• Empowered^[5]
• Engaged patients are engaged in their own care
• Equals in their partnership(s) with the physician(s) involved in their care
• Emancipated
• Expert patients can improve their self-rated health status, cope better with fatigue and other generic features of chronic disease such as role limitation, and reduce disability and their dependence on hospital care.^[5]
• Evaluating. This refers not only to the information e-patients find, but also to the source of that information, be it a Web page, a peer, or a health care professional. It also suggests that this evaluation begins, and trust in sources is established, at an early stage.^[6]

• Equal. The e-patient expects to be an equal member of the team. There is evidence from this study^{[clarification needed]} that when this situation is not encouraged by professionals, individuals develop mechanisms to manage situations that place them in a location of equal power, but without the open and honest relationship that is also valued.^[6]

Based on the current state of knowledge on the impact of e-patients on the healthcare system and the quality of care received:

• A growing number of people say the internet has played a crucial or important role as they helped another person cope with a major illness.^[7][8]
• Since the advent of the Internet, many clinicians have underestimated the benefits and overestimated the risks of online health resources for patients.^[9][10][11]
• Medical online support groups have become an important healthcare resource.^[12]
• “…the net friendliness of clinicians and provider organizations—as rated by the e-patients they serve—is becoming an important new aspect of healthcare quality.”^[13]

• This is one the most important cultural medical revolutions of the past century, mediated and driven by technology.^[13]
• In order to understand the impact of the e-patient, clinicians will likely need to move beyond “pre-internet medical constructs.”^[13] Research must combine expertise from specialties that are not used to working together.^{[citation needed]}
• It is crucial for medical education to take the e-patient into account, and to prepare students for medical practice that includes the e-patient.^[1]

See also[edit]

• eHealth
• mHealth
• Doctor–patient relationship
• Patient opinion leader
• Virtual patient

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• van Woerkum CM (1 April 2003). "The Internet and primary care physicians: coping with different expectations". Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 77 (4 Suppl): 1016S–1018S. PMID 12663310. 
• Susannah Fox, Pew Internet & American Life Project (2004-09-27). "Today's E-Patients: Hunters and Gatherers of Health Information Online". 

• Ferguson, Tom (2007). e-Patients: How They Can Help Us Heal Health Care (PDF). 
• Rimer BK, Lyons EJ, Ribisl KM et al. (July 2005). "How New Subscribers Use Cancer-Related Online Mailing Lists". Journal of Medical Internet Research 7 (3): e32. doi:10.2196/jmir.7.3.e32. PMC 1550655. PMID 15998623. 
• Meier A, Lyons EJ, Frydman G, Forlenza M, Rimer BK (2007). "How Cancer Survivors Provide Support on Cancer-Related Internet Mailing Lists". Journal of Medical Internet Research 9 (2): e12. doi:10.2196/jmir.9.2.e12. PMC 1874721. PMID 17513283. 
• The rise of the e-patient, Lee Rainie from the Pew Internet and American Life Project presentation at the Medical Library Association, Oct 7, 2009
• E-patients With a Disability or Chronic Disease, from the Pew Internet and American Life Project
• Association of Cancer Online Resources (ACOR), an aggregate of e-patient online communities for knowledge-sharing about cancer.
• Time Magazine article: "When the patient is a Googler"
• Who Cares Booklet by the Federal Trade Commission, a guide to health information
• Dave deBronkart: Meet e-Patient Dave, video at TED
• Greenwald, Ted. "A Social Network for Crohn’s Disease | MIT Technology Review". Technologyreview.com. Retrieved 2013-09-13. 
• Bhargava, Rohit; Johnmar, Fard (2013). ePatient 2015: 15 Surprising Trends Changing Healthcare.