If governments do decide to make use of the Internet in underserviced areas and want to employ physicians for this purpose, says Kendall Ho, medicare should pay them for this service. Depending on the circumstances, a number of other options are possible. If a physician is hired by a company to put medical information online, Ho suggests that the company pay the physician, with the company and doctor being liable for any legal claims. Physicians should be aware that any solicitation to provide online services for a fee constitutes a private agreement between physician and patient, which obliges the doctor to bear full responsibility for the information offered. Canadian physicians . . .
Security remains a primary concern for physicians interested in Internet medicine.
Some physicians consider the wealth of patient information available online a boon. Toronto anesthetist John Doyle says patients are more likely to have time to conduct an Internet literature review than most physicians. But if it's their disease, they're willing to put in a couple of months of solid research and can even report back to the physician what they've found. He predicts that a large amount of free electronic information sponsored by advertisers will eventually be certified as quality information following a peer-review process. Doyle and some colleagues have already formulated a peer-review council for anesthesia resources.