Web is good medicine, viruses notwithstanding

THE ROYAL Childrens Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, has announced that for the last six months it has given young diabetes patients the option of maintaining their medical records over the Internet.

Under this system the patients cannot change existing records but can add their own records of blood glucose levels as well as enable other health-care professionals to view the data.

The hospital claims that of the 40 per cent of patients who took up the offer, the system has worked very well.

This follows closely on the heels of the announcement in December 2003 of an experiment in which 50 patients registered with a certain doctor's practice in Geneva, Switzerland, were given unconditional access to their entire medical records through the web.

It was argued that the patients were the only real and legal owner of his or her medical records and that this approach would change what had been a subordinate relationship with their doctor.

Patients are now free to further research their own conditions and return to their doctor with knowledgeable questions or they can control the data they provide to public authorities, other health-care professionals and insurance companies. µ

L'INQS
The Age
SwissInfo