And doctors, who use the Internet to track their investments, have grown more comfortable using computers. Moreover, the recent public attention to reducing medical errors has further persuaded skeptics to give electronic medical records another look. Still, health information experts say consumers have been the main force behind health care's digital revolution. Consumers, empowered by the use of the Internet and computer systems throughout their lives, want the same level of convenience in health care they find elsewhere. And they're gradually starting to get it.
Patients now can e-mail doctors with questions or to make an appointment.
Health plans have started letting customers renew their prescriptions online. Some health systems even let patients get lab results via the Internet. People do not want to wait for lab tests anymore. They want to punch in a pass code into a PC and get it. Trager's 140-doctor group has recently started using electronic prescription writing and plans to move most of its patient care operations online in the next few years.