When Ted Eytan, MD, treats a patient with a broken rib, he positions the computer screen in the exam room so that his patient can look at the X-ray. He describes what the image shows, then clicks to call up a drawing of the rib to give context to the discussion.
"It makes a huge difference, even if it's just a fracture, to say 'Here's the part of the bone that we want to heal,'" says Eytan, a family practice physician who contracts with Group Health Cooperative in Seattle.
Welcome to information therapy, the practice of providing more and better information to patients so they can contribute more to their healing.
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If that patient with a broken rib is computer-savvy, for example, Eytan identifies a Web site that will reinforce information that the doctor covers during the appointment: the best way to lie down, pain-relief options, likely recovery time, and so forth. Because it is the same information that has been discussed during the office visit, patients can use it to remind themselves of what the doctor said — or to conduct further research. What is the definition of osteoporosis, anyway?
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Still in its infancy, the information therapy movement is trying to figure out how to make targeted information more widespread, and how to make that information useful to patients. Seidman says that different learning styles — some people process written material most easily, while others need visual information or interactive communication — require multiple approaches.
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