“A new study by Microsoft researchers suggests that persons who consult the Internet for self-diagnosis of medical conditions typically end up with the wrong conclusions. The report is the first to take a systematic look at “cyberchondria,” the practice of leaping to dire conclusions while researching health matters online, according to Eric Horvitz, an artificial intelligence researcher at Microsoft. Many people, he said, treat search engines as if they can answer questions like a human expert. Microsoft researchers note that they did not intend to send the message that people should completely ignore medical symptoms. But they do need to consider lesser illnesses as well as more deadly ones if they search online. “People tend to look at just the first couple results,” Horvitz said.”

My point is that the Internet will never be a physician. Microsoft has clearly stated that they are going to face difficulties in developing intelligent search engines that will resolve internet search patterns letting them look for at the right places; they want to enhance the actual search. But the real question is the following: Is enough to simply enhance the actual search to provide valid results for users?  The short answer is no, and the guys at Miscrosoft are honest enough to admit it. At Your TeleDoctor we are tackling the same problem, but instead of leading into a very hazardeous route, we prefer to use the internet for what it is for: An way to enhance communications and to add value to healthcare consumers by offering real services through this medium, remotely. We add a missing element to the value chain. People will keep looking for health information online, because it is a more convienient way to verify health issues and also a faster way as medicine is not an exact science and will never be. In the other hand, they want a more convinient way to confirm this information with a qualified physician.

As described in previous posts, Internet users, due to time constraints, convenience, availability and proximity are tempted to practice auto-diagnosis based on the information found in search engines or general medical websites like WebMD or Doctissimo. And here lies the problem, as the average healthcare consumer is more likely to make mistakes in the diagnosis, due to his lack of medical expertise. This can lead consumers to think the worst, for instance diagnosing an appendicite or a chronic sleep disorder. Online health information services should be considered as such, just information. By no means is it a way to conduct a diagnosis which is a more complex process that takes a series of parameters, quantifiable or not.

The full article from lifehacker describes the phenomenom:

“Everyone’s done it: you’ve got a raging stomachache and you’re feeling kind of fatigued, so you search online for the cause of your malady and conclude that you’ve got cancer. A new study from Microsoft shows that “cyberchondria” is common because when you search for symptoms, the worst case scenario can be the first result—or not representative of the frequency of a serious illness. (For example, searching for a headache will return just as many brain tumor results as caffeine withdrawal, when the chances of a tumor are “infinitesimally small.”) Have you decided you’re dying after searching for illness symptoms online? Tell us about it in the comments.” Source:Lifehacker

I will also include one of the most interesting comments on the article:

“My boyfriend uses the internet to self-diagnose and predict his impending doom on a regular basis.” Healthcare consumer

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve convinced myself I have appendicitis by reading WebMD.”  Healthcare consumer

I also found a detailled comment by a neuropsychologist about the dangers of self-diagnosis:

“As a clinical neuropsychologist, I cannot tell you how often patients search for health-related information that ends up being wrong, or does not apply to them. I would estimate from clinical experience that people are led to inaccurate or non-applicable information 95% of the time, whereas only 5% actually find something useful. People often show up at my office with printouts of symptoms and all sorts of illness-related information, having completely convinced themselves that they have disorder X. It’s actually a sad thing and it takes forever to disabuse individuals of information that they have latched onto as explaining all of their problems.

There are many considerations and variables that factor into diagnostic decision-making besides a list of symptoms. I would encourage anyone who seriously believes that he or she is ill to seek medical attention. I’m not saying that we should unquestionably accept information from our health care providers — doctors can and do make mistakes. But, please, try to keep an open mind and resist the urge to self-diagnose. If you have been to multiple doctors and no one can find anything wrong with you, it might be fruitful to check your premises.”

Your TeleDoctor is aiming at bridging the gap between healthcare consumers and physicians by offering a plateform that provide the same advantages of accessibility and convinience of information website, but by adding value by having a physician to help you with your medical concerns.

I won’t reinvente the wheel by telling the story behind Health 2.0 Accelerator. I have pasted the original article for more details. However, I want to talk about how I can be benefical to be involved in this project. For example the first project in which members will take part is about moving pharmaceutical data. The advantage of such an initiative is inspired from the opensource contribution widely common in software communities. People in healthcare  could then focus on solving more complex problems that plague the actual healthcare sector. Stay tuned, the wiki is up and running at Health2Accelerator.org

“For several months there has been discussion amongst Health 2.0 companies about the concept of a Health 2.0 Accelerator. It started with Marty Tenenbaum’s introduction of the concept in September 2007. It continued with the discussion at the San Diego meeting in March 2008. Since then conversations and meetings among a small group have continued to define a first cut at what the Health 2.0 Accelerator should be.

The basic idea is for organizations to collaborate to create “public goods” —frameworks and strategies that will help all concerned to advance the industry. The way to do this is via projects that tackle particular problems, and leave behind frameworks and utilities that all can use.

The reality is of course going to be more complex, but we’re delighted to announce that the first project concerning moving pharmaceutical data has been announced, and the first principles and statements about the future of the Accelerator are now up at its own wiki at Health2Accelerator.org.

We are now asking for everyone in the Health 2.0 Community to become members, suggest projects, and contribute to the wiki. This is very much a work in progress, but we believe that the potential is huge. Please go to the new site, and contribute by giving us your comments.”

By Mathieu Hault and Indu Subaiya

I have been thinking all day long about ways to enhance the experience for the people that will be using a teleconsultation service over the Internet. One simplistic idea will be to allow patients to consult a doctor without caring about his/her location. This is what I call the global healthcare marketplace. As for any disruptive idea, there will be many hurdles that should be surpassed:

• Developing countries physicians are not as competent: A number of doctors in developing countries have degrees outside their country and attend international conferences to keep up to date.
• Laws protecting doctors like in Quebec, Canada and North America in General: Like for any other service, the globalization and internationalization of medicine is something that cannot be fought against for a long time from now on. Medicine is becoming more and more transparent. The people that want to keep it opaque are doing it to protect their interests and those of a community of doctors. This has nothing to do with the consumer. The consumer/patient should be empowered and should be the central piece of the puzzle. We need to give the consumer its lost place. (Rate my doctor).
• Cultural Difference: Most doctors in the United States and in Canada are immigrants. There are some minor specificities to the medicine and sicknesses but a doctor has the same formation and the human body is the same wherever you go. Many studies have reaveled common traits in humans no matter their ethnicity or skin color.
• Remote consultations are not as reliable as face to face: There has been many studies in the subject. In Ontario for instance, it was shown that patients resent no major difference compared to face to face visits with their psychiatrists. Also, it has been shown that more than 80% of the visits to a general practitionner end up without having a physical contact with the patient.This idea to develop the service into a world wide advice network of physician has grown up and could present an alternative to the shortage for doctors in Canada and the States.

A new report shows that providing patients with e-mail access to their surgeons improves communication. The conclusion of authors of the  report says that “People who use e-mail certainly would like to have e-mail access to their physicians”.

Concerning the issues raised in the emails, we have general information (55%), post operative recovery (21%),  results (13%) and reassurance (11%).

This data gives us the reassurance that a service that will be offering interactive consultations with physicians will be well accepted. People are already using tools like email, social tools, and the new tools for web 2.0 to interact with each other. We won’t be changing the habits of people just suggesting a better way to interact with your doctor. Medicine just like other disciplines is in a great need to take the leap for the information age. Right now there is so a huge amount of  medical information on the web, what is needed is to give it a human face. Your TeleDoctor will be the regulator of information. It is in between people doing auto diagnosis online and people visiting their family physician at the medical office.

P.S. The original article can be found here.