TIME article: "Googling symptoms helps patients and doctors"

cranquis:

But to debate whether patients should or should not Google their symptoms (which a surprising number of doctors seem to enjoy engaging in) is an absurd exercise. Patients already are doing it, it is now a fact of normal patient behavior, and it will only increase as Internet technology becomes ever more ubiquitous. The average Joe has more health information at his fingertips — both credible and charlatan — than all the medical libraries ever built put together. So the real question is, What can professionals do to translate this phenomenon into better health for their patients and the public?

Another article related to “Googler” patients (this one in a more positive light compared to the previous article I posted), with some concrete suggestions (and accompanying links) on how doctors and patients can use the internet in a mutually-beneficial way.