P Hartzband & J Groopman, NEJM, March 25, 2010, Vol 362 (12), 1063-1066
Medicine has built on a long history of innovation, from the stethoscope and roentgenogram to magnetic resonance imaging and robotics. Doctors have embraced each new technology to advance patient care. But nothing has changed clinical practice more fundamentally than one recent innovation: the Internet. Its profound effects derive from the fact that while previous technolgoies have been fully under doctor’s control, the Internet is equally in the hands of patietns. Such access is redefining the roles of physician and patient.
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