Discuss three ways that the internet has played a role in consumerism as it relates to health care.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The internet has become implicated in the consumption of health care (e-health) in various ways. The first, and most obvious, way is by allowing people to find health care providers of all sorts more easily. The internet is a vast resource for finding providers, by specialty, on the local, national, and even global levels. There is also a wealth of information and evaluation available on pharmaceuticals, medical technologies, and alternative treatments. The increasing amount of health care-related data of all sorts on the internet allows people to become much more knowledgeable consumers of health care services and products. Increasingly, consumer-patients can shop for medical care on the internet. The internet also opens up a global range of views, possibilities, and alternatives to the consumers of medical goods and services. Consumers are better able to make themselves aware of the alternatives available elsewhere in the world, obtain information and advice about them, and find ways of obtaining them. On the positive side, this gives medical consumers better access to most goods and services and many more choices and options. On the negative side, this is all a relatively new and unregulated global territory, and consumers need to be aware of the fact that they may obtain fraudulent medical products and services. However, the net result is that a patient who uses online resources can become a much more sophisticated, knowledgeable, and independent consumer of medical services and products.