But even for those who are in the loop, the exuberance is palpable. According to Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School, the Internet represents the most fundamental modification in the dynamics of commerce since the industrial revolution. In the last 7 years, the Internet has expanded into more than 30 percent of homes in the United states a feat the telephone took 40 years to accomplish. And according to Jupiter Communications, a leading market research firm, the number of online users in the U.S. will quadruple from less than 40 million in 1996 to nearly 160 million in 2003. Naturally, that kind of reach has transformed the business of healthcare.
Consumers already use the Internet for health-related searches in surprisingly large numbers.
Surveys indicate that up to 65 percent of consumers have performed at least one online search for healthcare information, and up to 45 percent of all searches are healthcare related. But if consumers have signed on to the Net, doctors clearly have not. Less than five percent of physicians have incorporated the Internet as an integral part of their practice. Despite physician resistance to change, dozens of public and private companies are feverishly pursuing the goal of transforming medical office practice using Internet technologies. Content providers are portals for healthcare information, primarily for consumers and physicians.