[Air-L] the role of new media in reducing health care cost?

Andrew andrewrclark at mac.com
Mon Feb 23 21:54:07 PST 2009


I think it is important and excellent question. However it needs to  
teased out a bit, are you only considering patients and there families  
becoming more informed about health in general or specific  
diagnostic / medical treatments drugs etc, peer support; or improved  
information for clinicians within and across health care system or a  
combination of both.

  The problem is very little research has been done as to how and when  
people will pick up and use information and knowledge within health  
system particularly service users . What is clear people turn to  
trusted gate keepers in the first instance, this is most often family  
and friends. They are then likely to try a trusted information source  
within there local network, be it local Doctor, Health Food shop owner  
etc.

One of the significant problems in this type of area is the difference  
in the health care systems and access to primary health care. If it is  
user pay system, people may be more likely to seek assistance from  
other sources, if there is a universal health care system people may  
have built up a trusted relationship with a local Dr or health care /  
community care worker and utalsie them at no or little cost.

Two different mains stream approaches using internet  / new media are  
worth looking at in the UK. These being  NHS Direct and Ouch on the  
BBC. NHS Direct is both and online and telephone service staffed by  
nurses and other staff funded by NHS. Ouch is a site on the BBC for  
people with disabilities and is operated by people with disabilities.  
Both are quite different. However they do provide support and  
information to people in the health welfare system. As to wether they  
save money is still problematic. However if people are making informed  
decisions and about there health care then in its self I believe is a  
reasonable outcome.

Andrew Clark
Researcher
Centre for Health Assets
The University NSW Australia
andrew at unsw.edu.au



On 24/02/2009, at 2:41 PM, Ronald E. Rice wrote:

> Two edited books that include chapters speaking to a wide variety of  
> potential benefits -- and disadvantages -- of online health  
> information and health care.  Tables of contents of both are  
> available at:
> http://www.comm.ucsb.edu/faculty/rrice/B10.htm
> and
> http://www.comm.ucsb.edu/faculty/rrice/B6.htm
> =======================================================
> Ronald E. Rice
> Arthur N. Rupe Chair in the Social Effects of Mass Communication
> Co-Director, Carsey-Wolf Center for Film, Television, and New Media
> President of the International Communication Association 2006-2007
> Dept. of  Communication, 4840 Ellison Hall
> University of California
> Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4020
> Ph: 805-893-8696; Fax: 805-893-7102
> rrice at comm.ucsb.edu
> http://www.comm.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/rice.php
> http://www.cftnm.ucsb.edu/
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mariana Goya" <mgoyam at yahoo.com>
> To: <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 5:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [Air-L] the role of new media in reducing health care  
> cost?
>
>
>> More than reducing health cost, it seems to me that internet is  
>> certainly giving (or can give)
>> more agency to patients in their health issues. The information  
>> that can be found online goes
>> from medical information and advice given by medical institutions  
>> (mayo clinic, for instance),
>> published research papers, patients' recommendations of doctors (as  
>> in yelp), and patients
>> exchange of medical advice and symptoms as well as empathic  
>> feelings. An informed patient surely
>> has more resources to make decisions related to her health and to  
>> make better questions to the
>> doctor or even suggesting specific treatments or medicines.
>>
>> This access to medical information is especially important in the  
>> US where getting easy/fast access
>> to doctors is not always possible.
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On Mon,
>> 2/23/09, air-l-request at listserv.aoir.org <air-l-request at listserv.aoir.org 
>> > wrote:
>> Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:37:11 -0500
>> From: Yifeng Hu <hu at tcnj.edu>
>> Subject: [Air-L] the role of new media in reducing health care cost?
>> To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I am looking for articles/thoughts about whether new media can play a
>> role in reducing health care cost. Any perspectives are welcome.
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Yifeng**
>>
>> -- 
>> Yifeng Hu, Ph.D.
>> Assistant Professor
>> Department of Communication Studies
>> Kendall Hall 244
>> The College of New Jersey
>> 2000 Pennington Rd.
>> Ewing, NJ 08628
>> Telephone: 609-771-2373
>> Fax: 609-637-5187
>> Email: hu at tcnj.edu
>> Homepage: http://www.tcnj.edu/~hu/
>>
>>
>> Mariana Goya-Martinez
>> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>>
>>
>>
>>
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