TRABAJO
SOBRE CONSULTA VIRTUALREQUEST
FOR MEDICAL ADVICE FROM PATIENTS AND FAMILIES TO HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS WHO PUBLISH ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB.
Lawrence E. Widman, MD, PhD; David A. Tong, PhD.
Publicado en Arch Intern Med. 1997; 157:209-212
Excelente trabajo señero en la historia de la Consulta Virtual. Precursor de muchos de los trabajos sobre este tema. Nótese que ya en el año 1997, el autor recomienda que las Asociaciones Médicas y las agencias vinculadas con este tema deberían establecer guias (normas) para el funcionamiento de las consultas virtuales.
Otro aspecto a considerar, es la falta de análisis de la situación por parte de quienes evacuamos consultas virtuales apresuradamente por pulsar la tecla "enter" cuanto antes. De esa observación han surgido los trabajos como éste.
Background: The Internet is a novel, rapidly growing means of worldwide public communication.
Methods: We reviewed all unsolicited electronic mail and other communications from nonmedical individuals requesting medical information over a 12-month period from the physician at 1 established site on the World Wide Web. This site was the only Internet site with a primary focus on cardiac arrhythmias.
Results: Seventy unsolicited inquiries were received from 39 patients and 20 family members (the sources of 11 inquiries are unknown) from 20 states, Washington, DC, and 9 foreign countries (locations of 15 inquiries are unknown). Follow-up was obtained in 22 cases. The inquiries concerned cardiological conditions in 67 cases (96%) and cardiac electrophysiologic conditions and procedures in 52 cases (74%). The goals of the inquiries were diagnosis (15), therapy (48), prognosis (1), and patient education (6). On follow-up of 22 cases, the people initiating the inquiries stated that they were reassured (16), consulted a general cardiologist (1), consulted a cardiac electrophysiologist (4), or visited a tertiary care electrophysiology center (1).
Conclusions: The increasing use of the Internet by the general public seeking specific medical information for themselves and for their families suggests a widespread, unmet need for objective medical advice. This study demonstrates that the public can choose accurately whom to ask for subspecialty advice in the area of cardiovascular diseases. Professional societies and regulatory agencies should develop physician guidelines for providing medical advice over the Internet.
Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:209-212
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From the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Accepted for publication June 21, 1996.
This study was supported in part by grants R01 LM05530 (Dr Widman) and R29 LM06004 (Dr Tong) from the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Md, project number HR4-092 (Dr Widman) from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, Oklahoma City, Okla, and a grant (Dr Tong) from the Whitaker Foundation, Rosslyn, Va.
The contents herein are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Library of Medicine, the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, or the Whitaker Foundation.
We thank Gordon Watson, MD, Udho Thadani, MBBS, and 2 anonymous reviewers for commenting on the manuscript.
Reprints: Lawrence E. Widman, MD, PhD, Division of Cardiology, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr, San Antonio, TX 78284.
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