COMPUTERS

According to a 1999 survey by Healtheon Corp. (part of a three-year study of the computer needsand expectations of 10,000 physicians), regular online activity by physicians has increased 42 percent just in the last three months; 85 percent of the physician respondents said they used the Internet. Why the sudden increase? There are probably many reasons, but among them would appear to be the need for greater efficiency and a general rise in consumer online activity.
Physician use this era of declining reimbursements and thinning wallets, physicians are being asked to practice more efficiently, and the Internet can be a great help.


For example, the New York Board of Regents recently announced that New York doctors will be able to use e-mail (and faxes) to transmit prescription requests beginning this month. The Internet also has great promise as a tool for patient-records management, scheduling, patient education and claim submission, among other uses.

In another study of physician Internet use, FIND/SVP, a research and advisory service, reported that 65 percent of physicians think the Internet can enhance their access to clinical information and business news, although only 46 percent expect to find high-quality professional information online.

Despite some reservations about the quality of the content, many physicians have embraced this technology wholeheartedly. Thirty percent of the physicians surveyed by Healtheon already have web sites highlighting their practices, and 16 percent plan to develop them. Medical specialty organizations also are moving this direction: According to the Healtheon study, nearly a third of these groups have web sites.

Doctors also are increasing their use of e-mail. Sixty-three percent report using e-mail every day, says Healtheon, and 33 percent of respondents reported using e-mail to communicate with patients, a jump of 200 percent from the previous year.


Issues of security do linger. In the Healtheon survey, just over one third of the respondents indicated that security was a primary concern during e-mail and other Internet use. There is no federal legislation to protect health data privacy, and state laws offer uneven protection against inappropriate disclosure. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Congress is given until August 1999 to enact privacy legislation.