Background: Web 2.0 internet tools and methods have attracted
considerable attention as a means to improve health care delivery.
Despite evidence demonstrating their use by medical professionals, there
is no detailed research describing how Web 2.0 influences physicians'
daily clinical practice. Hence this study examines Web 2.0 use by 35
junior physicians in clinical settings to further understand their
impact on medical practice.
Method: Diaries and interviews encompassing 177 days of internet use or
444 search incidents, analyzed via thematic analysis.
Results: Results indicate that 53\% of internet visits employed
user-generated or Web 2.0 content, with Google and Wikipedia used by
80\% and 70\% of physicians, respectively. Despite awareness of
information credibility risks with Web 2.0 content, it has a role in
information seeking for both clinical decisions and medical education.
This is enabled by the ability to cross check information and the
diverse needs for background and non-verified information.
Conclusion: Web 2.0 use represents a profound departure from previous
learning and decision processes which were normally controlled by senior
medical staff or medical schools. There is widespread concern with the
risk of poor quality information with Web 2.0 use, and the manner in
which physicians are using it suggest effective use derives from the
mitigating actions by the individual physician. Three alternative policy
options are identified to manage this risk and improve efficiency in Web
2.0's use. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
%0 Journal Article
%1 ISI:000270079200002
%A Hughes, Benjamin
%A Joshi, Indra
%A Lemonde, Hugh
%A Wareham, Jonathan
%D 2009
%J International Journal of Medical Informatics
%K 2.0 Clinical Information Internet Junior Medical Physicians User-generated Web content dipf eHealth education seeking
%N 10
%P 645-655
%R 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2009.04.008
%T Junior physician's use of Web 2.0 for information seeking and medical
education: A qualitative study
%V 78
%X Background: Web 2.0 internet tools and methods have attracted
considerable attention as a means to improve health care delivery.
Despite evidence demonstrating their use by medical professionals, there
is no detailed research describing how Web 2.0 influences physicians'
daily clinical practice. Hence this study examines Web 2.0 use by 35
junior physicians in clinical settings to further understand their
impact on medical practice.
Method: Diaries and interviews encompassing 177 days of internet use or
444 search incidents, analyzed via thematic analysis.
Results: Results indicate that 53\% of internet visits employed
user-generated or Web 2.0 content, with Google and Wikipedia used by
80\% and 70\% of physicians, respectively. Despite awareness of
information credibility risks with Web 2.0 content, it has a role in
information seeking for both clinical decisions and medical education.
This is enabled by the ability to cross check information and the
diverse needs for background and non-verified information.
Conclusion: Web 2.0 use represents a profound departure from previous
learning and decision processes which were normally controlled by senior
medical staff or medical schools. There is widespread concern with the
risk of poor quality information with Web 2.0 use, and the manner in
which physicians are using it suggest effective use derives from the
mitigating actions by the individual physician. Three alternative policy
options are identified to manage this risk and improve efficiency in Web
2.0's use. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
@article{ISI:000270079200002,
abstract = {{Background: Web 2.0 internet tools and methods have attracted
considerable attention as a means to improve health care delivery.
Despite evidence demonstrating their use by medical professionals, there
is no detailed research describing how Web 2.0 influences physicians'
daily clinical practice. Hence this study examines Web 2.0 use by 35
junior physicians in clinical settings to further understand their
impact on medical practice.
Method: Diaries and interviews encompassing 177 days of internet use or
444 search incidents, analyzed via thematic analysis.
Results: Results indicate that 53\% of internet visits employed
user-generated or Web 2.0 content, with Google and Wikipedia used by
80\% and 70\% of physicians, respectively. Despite awareness of
information credibility risks with Web 2.0 content, it has a role in
information seeking for both clinical decisions and medical education.
This is enabled by the ability to cross check information and the
diverse needs for background and non-verified information.
Conclusion: Web 2.0 use represents a profound departure from previous
learning and decision processes which were normally controlled by senior
medical staff or medical schools. There is widespread concern with the
risk of poor quality information with Web 2.0 use, and the manner in
which physicians are using it suggest effective use derives from the
mitigating actions by the individual physician. Three alternative policy
options are identified to manage this risk and improve efficiency in Web
2.0's use. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
added-at = {2011-09-21T18:35:59.000+0200},
affiliation = {{Hughes, B (Reprint Author), ESADE Business Sch, Dept Informat Syst, Av Pederables 60-62, Barcelona 08034, Spain.
Hughes, B; Wareham, J, ESADE Business Sch, Dept Informat Syst, Barcelona 08034, Spain.
Joshi, I, W Hertfordshire Hosp NHS Trust, Watford WD18 0HB, England.
Lemonde, H, Barts \& London NHS Trust, Dept Paediat, London E1 1BB, England.}},
author = {Hughes, Benjamin and Joshi, Indra and Lemonde, Hugh and Wareham, Jonathan},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/25c6b0c81596ab4e33336d2b42cbe9a52/griesbau},
doi = {{10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2009.04.008}},
interhash = {b05bc57850afe8079ab5fea692f6e083},
intrahash = {5c6b0c81596ab4e33336d2b42cbe9a52},
issn = {{1386-5056}},
journal = {International Journal of Medical Informatics},
keywords = {2.0 Clinical Information Internet Junior Medical Physicians User-generated Web content dipf eHealth education seeking},
keywords-plus = {{CLINICAL DECISION-SUPPORT; HEALTH-CARE; INTERNET; WIKIPEDIA; WEB-2.0;
GOOGLE; UNDERGRADUATE; SEARCH; MODELS; FUTURE}},
language = {{English}},
number = 10,
pages = {645-655},
subject-category = {{Computer Science; Health Care Sciences \& Services; Medical Informatics}},
timestamp = {2011-09-21T18:40:29.000+0200},
title = {Junior physician's use of Web 2.0 for information seeking and medical
education: A qualitative study},
volume = 78,
year = {{2009}}
}