The problem is that much of that Internet information is either incomplete or just plain wrong. That’s the conclusion of an article published on Medscape Today. Here are excerpts:

The Internet puts solid health information at a patient’s fingertips, but 2 new studies suggest that too many of those fingertips stray into questionable territory.

In a survey from Wolters Kluwer Health, 78% of physicians said that lack of time is one of the most common challenges for physician-patient communication. The next biggest problem in this regard — cited by 53% of physicians — is misinformed patients.

The phone survey, conducted in August, included more than 300 US physicians, roughly split between primary care physicians and specialists.

The survey sheds more light on the increasingly larger role — for good and ill — that the Internet plays in healthcare. The Pew Research Center reports that 78% of adults use the Internet, and of these, 83% look up health information online.

However, the value of that information is debatable. While just over half (53%) of physicians in the Wolters Kluwer Health survey said that easier access by patients to medical knowledge has improved the exam-room experience, 1 in 5 said that this easier access “has been detrimental, leading to misinformation and incorrect self-diagnosis.”

Similar misgivings emerged in a study presented by Cleveland Clinic Foundation researchers at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) that ended this week. The researchers analyzed the 100 most-viewed YouTube videos on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and rated their overall educational quality as poor.

“Clinicians and their patients need to be aware of misleading information posted by patients or particularly by pharmaceutical companies who often post videos to make it seem like they are coming from a patient when in actuality it is a company advertisement,” said researcher Saurabh Mukewar, MD, in an ACG press release. “These sources are not transparent.”

“The Internet and social media are not going away — YouTube is a powerful platform to deliver and receive healthcare information,” said Dr. Mukewar, an internal medicine resident at the Cleveland Clinic. “But healthcare providers and professional societies need to provide more educational and efficient materials using this powerful tool to counteract misleading information.”

One source for deciphering these abbreviations is at Medilexicon.com. It can be a great help, and it’s free.

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The National Association of Long Term Hospitals (NALTH) provides representation to members on legislative, regulatory, policy and industry issues. NALTH leads in the development of strategies influencing and promoting public policy to advance the best interests of long-term patients. NALTH’s involvement at a grassroots level ensures members’ issues are heard and addressed at the federal level.

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The American Professional Wound Care Association (APWCA) is a hybrid non-profit organization unlike any other organization available in wound care. The APWCA designates members that meet specific requirements as Fellow, Diplomate or Associate, similar to a “college” type of organization while it serves as a full service medical “Association”. It is in that sense unique in wound care. Membership incorporates all of the various medical specialties involved in treating complex wounds. Wound care education is provided in an atmosphere that brings these fields together and therefore facilitates an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach. Wound care education is provided through multiple sources, including Wound Care Seminars, Wound Care Conferences that are held regionally and the Annual APWCA Wound Care National Conference that each spring is a major learning event. Other educational l resources include: newsletters, eMail Newsletters, Medline Indexed monthly journal, webinars and more. The mission of the Association is to help decrease the rate of complications from all wounds, including acute, chronic, post surgical, post radiation, reconstructive and other problematic wounds. Our goal is to accelerate wound healing and preserve and/or enhance the quality of life for these patients. This broad definition reflecting interest in all forms of wounds is one factor that distinguishes APWCA from other organizations and associations in wound care.

BioMedSearch is a biomedical search engine that contains NIH/PubMed documents, plus a large collection of theses, dissertations, and other publications not found anywhere else for free, making it the most comprehensive free search on the web.

BioMedSearch also provides advanced account features that allow saved searches, alerts, saving documents to portfolios, commenting on documents and portfolios, and sharing documents with other registered users.

About OncoLink

OncoLink was founded in 1994 by Penn cancer specialists with a mission to help cancer patients, families, health care professionals and the general public get accurate cancer-related information at no charge. Recent changes have been made to OncoLink to update the look and feel of our site.

OncoLink is designed to make it easy for the general public to navigate through the pages to obtain the information that they want. The home page has buttons and hypertext links. If you click on the buttons or the underlined text with your mouse, you will go directly to your area of interest.

Through OncoLink you can get comprehensive information about specific types of cancer, updates on cancer treatments and news about research advances. We update the information everyday and provide information at various levels, from introductory to in-depth. If you are interested in learning about cancer, you will benefit from visiting OncoLink.

When I ask new patients how they found me, frequently they say on the Internet through search engines such as Google.

Out of curiosity, I recently Googled myself. Numerous ads appeared, promising readers a “detailed background report” or a “profile” of me. Among the search results was information about my practice, whether I was board certified, had any lawsuits against me, and reviews from online doctor rating sites. Thankfully, most were favorable, but some were not.

People already choose restaurants, movies, and their college professors based on what they read on the Internet, so it’s inevitable that many will research their doctors on the Web as well. But there are some good reasons consumers should be wary of the information they find online about doctors.

An Archives of Internal Medicine study in September found that most publicly available information on individual physicians — such as disciplinary actions, the number of malpractice payments, or years of experience — had little correlation with whether they adhered to the recommended medical guidelines. In other words, there’s no easy way to research how well a doctor manages conditions such as heart disease or diabetes. That kind of relevant performance data are hidden from the public.

To fill the information void, dozens of online physician rating sites have surfaced. Most allow patients to critique their doctors anonymously, scoring them on the friendliness of their office staff, communication skills, punctuality and knowledge.

But the medical profession has been slow to embrace online reviews. Nancy Nielsen, past president of the American Medical Association, has said: “Anonymous online rating sites that don’t allow physician access add nothing to the quality of patient-physician communication and understanding.” Some doctors have even sued their online critics, claiming libel and defamation.

Despite such concerns, patients don’t use these sites that often, which is another drawback. The number of Web ratings of me, for instance, can be counted on one hand. This year, Tara Lagu published a study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine finding that 70% of Boston doctors spread over 33 rating sites had no reviews. Educated physician choices cannot be made on such scant information.

How can a Web search for a doctor be improved?

First, physicians should encourage patients to leave online reviews. More data are needed to make the ratings useful. And for those worried about libel, consider that, according to Lagu’s study, almost 90% of online patient reviews were positive.

Second, anonymous reviews should not be allowed. Not only can anonymous posts be manipulated by someone bearing a grudge, glowing narratives can be planted by a doctor or his staff. Ratings accountability allows doctors to use real patient feedback to constructively improve their practice. Angie’s List, a leading fee-based consumer rating service, sets an example by not allowing anonymous reviews of health professionals.

And finally, objective performance data, such as how often doctors appropriately screen patients for cancer, or how many of their patients meet blood pressure or cholesterol targets, are often not revealed. They need to be made publicly available.

Until these improvements are made, patients going online to look for a new doctor could be disappointed by what they find.

About ZocDoc

ZocDoc is a free service that allows patients to book doctor appointments online.

ZocDoc started in September of 2007 as a service to help people find and make dentist appointments in New York City. Today ZocDoc also offers primary care, dermatologist, eye-specialist, ENT, orthopedist, OB/GYN, allergist, podiatrist, cardiologist, pediatrician, radiologist and psychiatrist appointments in New York City, Washington DC, San Francisco, Chicago and Dallas.

U.S. News evaluated almost 5,000 hospitals to rank the best in 16 adult specialties from cancer to urology. Death rates, patient safety, and reputation with more than 9,000 specialists went into the 2010-11 rankings. Of 152 hospitals ranked in at least one specialty, 14 are featured in an Honor Roll for landing near the top in at least six specialties.