Trevor Tonks, Utah Valley University
This qualitative research study aims to explore how access to online health information is impacting the provider-patient relationship, and more specifically that of Nurse Practioners (NP) and Physician’s Assistants (PA), termed mid-level providers. The Internet provides an array of information that can be accessed almost anywhere in the world. Among the countless numbers of subjects available on the World Wide Web, searches surrounding eHealth continue to be some of the most popular. The accuracy of Internet medical information could lead to concerns surrounding patient safety. Many patients with health concerns have often already self-diagnosed their medical conditions before they walk through the clinic doors and are searching for a second, and often, validating opinion from providers. The advent of the Internet and its impact on the provider-patient relationship will be the focus of this research. Through semi-structured interviews, we will assess the experience of mid-level providers across the state of Utah on their perceptions of online medical information, patient’s use of this information, and how it may be affecting their relationships with patients. Medical providers, as a result of eHealth, may feel a loss of authority and a change to the more traditional roles within the provider-patient relationship. The findings of this research have the potential to promote patient safety and offer recommendations for creating a new collaborative-style relationship between patient and provider, with the Internet as an entity to be recognized within that relationship.