Explain the Effect of advanced technology and medicine on consumer health choices
Explain the Effect of advanced technology and medicine on consumer health choices. Advances in technology in the field of medicine ensure availability of information to consumers. Increased access to information enables the consumers to make informed choices.
However, access to medical information is both a blessing and a curse to the consumer. A heath policy that involves the consumer is instrumental in ensuring better health services. (Sharon B. Arnold, 2007 p 1) .A consumer who is more informed makes the right heath decisions, participate actively in matters relating to their health and are managers of their own health.
Access to information enables consumers to demand quality services from health providers because they know what to expect. Consumers with no information do not know what to expect and thus demand less from the health care system (Sharon B. Arnold, 2007 p 2). Technology advancement has empowered the consumer to participate actively. The consumer can choose a desirable health plan due to availability of information.Technology has increased the number of online inquiries and uptake of health care.
For example the National Library of Medicine (NLM) had over 250,000 inquiries and searches increase from 7 million in the 1997 to 120 million in 1989 after the online introduction of Medline (Cline W & Haynes M, 2001).The information obtained on medicine such as the internet exposes the consumers to danger. There are so many websites that provide health care information.
Most of thealth care information is not vetted and are shrouded in anonymity. With over 50 million people seeking health information online and with over 70,000 websites providing health information, the potential harm to the consumer is great(Cline W & Haynes M ,2001).The widespread of technology in medicine has allowed charlatans, quacks and non- professionals to provide information thus endangering the lives of consumers.ReferencesSharon B. Arnold (2007) Improving Quality Health Care: The Role of Consumer Engagement<>accesed on 29 August 2014.Cline W & Haynes M (2001) Consumer health information seeking on the Internet: the state of the art< on 29 August 2014.
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