Online social networks like Friendster, MySpace and the more recent Facebook have been around for a while now, just about 5 or 6 years. In internet years, that's ancient history! One of the greatest positive externalities to emerge though has been online patient forums like PatientsLikeMe, where people with various diseases have found others to share stories with and talk in general about their personal experiences.
With health care now a 2 trillion dollar industry, everyone wants a piece of the pie. Patients are slowly realizing that they are the centerpiece of the equation and networking sites, medical specialty resources, patient advocacy programs, you name it are all helping them get a stronger foothold by asking the right questions.
Doctors are essential in tearing down the paternalistic structure and increasing the value of patient-physician interactions. With so little time spent with a patient in an exam room, a physician must ask extremely pertinent questions hopefully with foreknowledge of the patient's concerns. Technology is key here; fax, email, best case a web portal to communicate to the doctor the reason for the visit prepares both patient and physician to get past the "sooo, what brings you in today?" phase. Having a mental framework in place allows for treatment options, medication compliance and follow-up to be that much more on target.
There are a lot of people campaigning for this kind of change. NYTimes has a wonderful piece that fleshes out the responsibilities of both patient and doctor even before they meet called "On the Same Wavelength With the Doctor". This is the perspective we need to shake up how things have always been done.