Web Health in the Future

As information on the web grows and increases for each health topic, there will be more scrutiny, review and control. More websites will contain valid information that will be certified by an appropriate health agency and or government. This will enable an individual to research these sites and perform self-diagnosis for their particular health topic. To ensure accurate self-diagnoses an individual could do a series of “tests or surveys” and pending the response will verify a particular health condition. Already there is an increase of medication and drugs that no longer require a prescription from the doctor and in the future this will only increase. For instance, not too long ago for yeast infections women had to go and visit a medical professional and obtain a prescription. Now treatment is available at the drug store.

Self-diagnosis will be helpful and a time saving in general. It will also mean that an individual that has completed thorough research saves valuable “medical time” and steps. Upon the first visit with a medical authority they can agree on the best option for treatment and not waste time. For all health issues this will be a benefit all round for everyone involved.

Today we can call a 1-800 number 24 hours, 7 days a week for free health consultation from a professional Registered Nurse. Perhaps in the near future we can talk to a Registered Nurse on a “certified” government or specialized health website. It would be interactive with the ability for the nurse to send you detailed information regarding whatever the health challenge, illness or information that you are looking for. The nurse can direct you for further treatment and or set up the appropriate appointment. She can also direct you should emergency treatment is recommended.

The medical community uses the web in number of ways to advance research and treatment. Links have been set up between countries, cities and remote regions to bring medical experts together in the fight against disease and advance treatment. Technology advances have established links into medical centers and surgery operating rooms to reach areas without the medical expertise or facilities. In the future, we can be linked to the “doctor’s office” through the web. Why go into an office for a visit if the health questions or issue can be dealt with effectively, efficiently through the web. Through “authorized or government approved sites” we can connect and have a scheduled appointment with a medical professional such as a nurse, doctor or specialist via the net. The web session would be real time, interactive, using advanced web-cam technology. Technological advances for real time interactive sessions could be certified through eye retina recognition to certify both the patient and medical expert.

Individuals prior to the “net visit” research their challenge via the net. They would already know what would be recommended and expected. For conditions requiring “closer examination” sophisticated technological instrumentation will be used on the net. This equipment will act as a “smart card” and “read or x-ray” the body immediately to assess the medical condition or stage of the illness. The medical professional can quickly verify the self-diagnosis without wasting time. This would mean more patients could be “seen” and dealt with, rather than time and effort involved with visiting a medical facility. This could improve the “waiting time” that current medical attention is obtained. It also will mean that more lives will be saved and health issues will be addressed immediately.

Only for situations requiring you to be there in person would require a “visit to the doctor”. These visits would be required only if immediate treatment would be required at designated emergency clinics; for example, a major accident or incident requiring life-saving treatment. Otherwise, upon completion of the interactive medical treatment a prescription if required would be sent to a preferred pharmacy for pickup or they can be delivered. If treatments of any type are required these will be set up immediately and notification will be sent via the net to the individual regarding their appointment or next treatment steps.

So in my opinion, the future of health and the web is filled with hope and possibilities that are exciting. We can only hope that they are not too far in the distant future.

Solutions for these Risks

As I have already mentioned, getting your information off the web can be very risky especially when dealing with your health. However, if you still want to obtain information off the web that is ok and could be the first step to addressing a medical issue. Thorough research, reviewing reputable websites can be beneficial in self-diagnosing a health issue. But something that would be recommended and beneficial would be to go to the doctor or medical professional after you’ve done your research. This way, when you go to ask questions or review your medical issue you get the answers that you want and need instead of your visit taking a longer time and not getting the answers that would tackle your ailment. This could be helpful because it could take time off spent in the doctor’s office because you don’t need to wait for the doctor to diagnose something, you just need to verify that you are doing the best treatment for your ailment and get a prescription if required.

If you absolutely can’t make it in to talk to your doctor, another option is to look up a specific doctor on the web and use information off of her/his web site. This way you will know that the information is accurate because the person who put it up is a certified expert. But the best way to know that you are getting the information that you need is to go to the doctor and talk to him/her about your issues and get them professionally addressed. Even if you go to a walk in clinic, it could work just as well.

Perhaps for a minimal fee people would be willing to pay for certified health advice. The site would be “authorized” and fully credited. The site would have a “seal of approval” which would be easily recognized as containing accurate and certified health information. The government could have a role or medical specialized team would certify these sites. This would mean people would know that what they are reviewing is correct, expert, accurate information. But the question of whether the individual can diagnose their issue or illness may still be a question and may require further medical advice. For further medical advice an appointment with a medical authority would be required.

The Dangers or Risks of Health and Web Safety

Lots of information is found on the net and we don’t know if the information is true or false. It is assumed that the information is true because of a reference or sounds good and therefore we believe it must be true. There is no way of knowing if the site is reputable.
Sometimes by reading about a medical condition on the web makes it worse and scares the person into doing nothing; instead if they saw a professional they could have been better in a week’s time with proper care. Instead they worry and do nothing, which only makes matters worse than if they would have received medical attention. People scare themselves into doing nothing about a health challenge and hope it goes away on its own.

By using information obtained from the web, people try to save time and don’t get the proper medical treatment that is needed or that will address their need. By following instructions obtained from the website a person doesn’t get the proper medical care that will 100% cure them. They don’t know if the prescribed medication or suggested treatment will cause a negative reaction or have an adverse affect. In addition, a person has no way to know if how they interpret their symptoms are correct and that means one could be treating something that they do not have. By treating an illness that one doesn’t have can cause a very bad reaction or make things worse. Do you want to take that risk?

It is a fact that some medical treatments require prescriptions. What may be recommended on a website is incorrect and is leading you to buy medication over the counter which will not solve the health issue completely. Or what is recommended means you need to take more medication for a longer period of time because the strength of the medicine and treatment does not compare to a prescription drug. Again the risk of getting the wrong treatment, becoming worse or have a reaction is real and can happen.

In addition, it is a known fact that the web has thousands of sites with health information. For any one topic or health issue or illness, pages of information can be found. Usually one doesn’t have the time or energy to thoroughly research each site to determine what information may be accurate and correct. At times different websites provide information that can be conflicting and or give different options for treatment. How do you know which web site is correct and which one isn’t? The time and effort spent researching could be saved if one just went and visited the proper medical authority.

The web has expanded access to information including hearing from people who successfully treated various illnesses or have tried various treatments; but it is unknown if these are true stories or not. Would one really believe what they read when it comes to medical options and how to address health issues? Why would you not research further? Would you risk your health on something that you read by a person who may be pulling your leg?

So there are significant risks that people should be aware of and perhaps use the web for information purposes and research only.

Health and the Web a Brief Introduction

Health is critical to all of us. It is a very broad topic, if you think about it there are different types of sicknesses, different types of ways to cure, and different ways to get information on how to cure. Today there is a lot of emphasis on good health. You can go to a doctor’s office, a hospital, or a specialist, but in our technological world today, a lot of answers could be found on the World Wide Web.

People have started to use this as their first source to investigate an illness or obtain general health information. If you think about it, it makes sense. Why would you go wait in a room for an hour, with all these sick people just to see a doctor who is probably going to tell you something that you could have researched and found the answer for via the Internet. Well that seems like a reasonable thing to do in a busy world we live in. But the fact is all the information that you read on the Internet is not correct. How do we know that the information is correct? Does it come from a medical authority or from a reputable source?

There are many sources of information on the web, submitted by different people and overall we do not know for sure that what we read is true. Another problem with getting information off the web is that there are different scams on the Internet. For example, if someone wants you to buy a weight loss pill or product over the net you don’t know if what they are saying is true and if the testimonials are real because there is no “police” over the net. Regarding information, one doesn’t know if a product works or doesn’t work the way it is advertised or if the instructions to deal with a health issue works or causes more damage.

I’m interested in your experience with health and the Internet. How can we address the issue with making sure what we obtain is valid, correct information and that we are not mislead?