AMA study shows Web usage up among doctors

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The proportion of physicians using the World Wide Web has nearly doubled from 20 percent in 1997 to 37 percent in 1999, according to findings from a follow-up study of physician computer usage prepared by the American Medical Association. |ret||ret||tab|

"The Internet has proven to many physicians that it can be a powerful tool for medical use," said AMA Trustee Richard F. Corlin, MD, in a release from the AMA. "The findings of our study show that the process of integrating the fast-changing world of the Internet into the practice of medicine has significantly quickened." |ret||ret||tab|

In 1997, the AMA conducted a large-scale benchmark survey of physicians in the United States to determine the penetration of Web usage among the physician population. In 1999, the AMA conducted a follow-up survey of a random sample of physicians in the United States to determine changes in the pattern of Web usage. |ret||ret||tab|

Since its original 1997 study, the AMA found that the proportion of physicians who use a computer has remained virtually unchanged during the past two years at 41 percent. |ret||ret||tab|

However, the most recent study suggests that Web use will continue to increase among physicians in the short term. The AMA findings show that among physicians who use a computer but do not have access to the Web, 58 percent said they plan on acquiring access to the Web in the next six months. |ret||ret||tab|

Physicians have also made substantial efforts to promote their practices and provide if necessary to take up a line educational information by establishing either a practice or personal Web site. Since 1997, the presence of dedicated Web sites among physicians who use the Web has increased more than 62 percent. |ret||ret||tab|

"More and more physicians are recognizing that the Web has the ability to access and distribute a wealth of valuable information that might not be readily available through traditional sources. This capacity can be of great benefit to physicians and patients," Corlin said. Data from the 2000 AMA Study on Physicians' Use of the World Wide Web was accumulated from 1,084 interviews with office-based physicians. Medical students and retired physicians were excluded from the random sample of physicians. [[In-content Ad]]