In recent years, the greater-than-ever ease of access to information and disinformation has had an increasing impact. Charles Fox, MD, chief of gastroenterology at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, said he and his staff encounter it regularly.
This is an edited excerpt. Download the full episode here.
Question: What are the top trends you're following in healthcare?
Dr. Charles Fox: What's very interesting is the patient consumerization we're seeing, whether it's patients giving online reviews of physicians individually or practices in general, or the information and disinformation that's out there for internet searches for our patients about various diseases. All of that is impacting the way we interact with patients on a daily basis.
A lot of it is lay-press articles about side effects of medications, and not understanding [how] healthcare providers are able to weigh the risks and benefits. And it seems as though when patients hear about side effects of medication or complications from procedures — even though those are rare events — in the patient's mind, it can override and outweigh any potential benefits, which oftentimes are much, much more likely to occur.
Q: When you do have a patient that comes in with some of these concerns, how do you typically approach that and what does that conversation sound like?
Dr. Charles Fox: I'm mostly just trying to educate, inform folks and talk with them about risk benefit ratios, how to understand the information they're receiving, and how to interpret it. ... A lot of times my standard line will be, "You know, it's much more dangerous for you to have ridden in a car to get here today than it will be for you to take this medicine."