How Good is WebMD?

[FinanceDude]

I guess I am really looking to Rich for his input. When my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer mesthatized to the liver, I found a lot of helpful stuff about it, along with her chemo drug (Herceptin), etc. It helped me understand what she was going through.

Rich

[Rich_in_Tampa]

I think its content is pretty good compared to many other sites.

I find it very commercial and it is unclear to me what their relation$hip is with various big pharmaceutical companies; lots of ads, to be sure, but not sure if it goes farther than that.

[spideyrdpd]

Another choice is the Merck mauals
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/index.html
So Rich do you feel that the internet has made for better customers ?

[Cattusbabe]

Try this site. It is run by the National Institute of Health. Before retiring from nursing I used this site a lot to get information for patient teaching and the like.


http://medlineplus.gov/

[kramer]

So is WebMD free?

I self-diagnose for myself (and others) before we go to the doctor, so we are as informed as possible. So far, it has really helped. But I have only used google.

Kramer

[Rich_in_Tampa]

Originally Posted by spideyrdpd

So Rich do you feel that the internet has made for better customers ?

Overall, yes. But as you can imagine it takes a vast amount of street smarts to know what to do with all the information. It probably takes me more time per patient when they have "searched the web" but they are better informed and more fun to discuss options with.

I actually "reward" patients with compliments and respect for doing the web homework. It assures them that I don't feel threatened or uneasy with it, and it usually signals a someone who enjoys shared decision making.

I like it.