Navigating the Internet in Patient Physician Collaboration

In order for patients and physicians to engage in models of shared decision making, it is essential for physicians to be able to understand and integrate the baseline knowledge of patients into each encounter. Increasingly patients are turning to the internet to gain knowledge about their medical problems. As such, a potential way to improve patient and physician interactions is to define the competencies related to the ability of physicians to aid patients in the interpretation and translation of web-based materials. At present, few post-graduate medical training competency frameworks make mention of patient education and there is no specific mention of competencies related to the integration and interpretation of web-based information. As a starting point to formulate articulate best practices related to patient education, we have developed a framework that can be used by physicians and patients to evaluate web-based resources. Through the process of design-based research we developed and iteratively evaluated an evaluation tool. The products of this research are a robust tool that may be used by both physicians and patients to evaluate the quality of web-based resources. Ultimately, this research will inform a continued research which will define the skills required by physicians to collaborate with patients in interpretation of and evaluation of web-based materials.