Consumers can find this information and more on the Internet. The insurer might give advice on cost-saving treatments or information about charges. Consumers' choices would be limited only by their willingness to spend what is essentially their own money. Empowering Patients During office visits, doctors have little time to explain treatments, drug interactions and alternatives. On the Internet the information available to the patient is unlimited.
Patients can also make better use of the data from tests.
Internet-based patients' medical records could be stored electronically and accessed from anywhere with the patient's permission. Prescriptions ordered over the Internet could be delivered directly to patients or made available for pickup at a participating pharmacy. Prescriptions filed electronically could become a permanent part of patients' medical records. Disease-specific providers could negotiate for ancillary services, and providers with excess capacity or a seasonal lull in demand might even offer discounts. Among the most frequented Internet health information sites are those devoted to chronic diseases.