Physicians' Communicative Strategies in Interacting With Internet-Informed Patients: Results From a Qualitative Study
Abstract
This article describes the strategies used by physicians to interact with Internet-informed patients, alongside illustrating the motives underlying such strategies. Semistructured interviews were conducted with a sample of 17 physicians from primary care and medical specialist practices in the Italian part of Switzerland. The sample was diversified in terms of specialty, age, and gender. Data collection and analysis were driven by grounded theory and supported by a computer-assisted qualitative analysis program. A typology of four communicative strategies has been outlined. The adoption of these strategies is shaped by physicians' general attitude toward Internet-informed patients, based on their conception of medical information for lay people through the Internet. However, this general attitude is mediated by doctors' interpretation of the specific communicative context, that is, their appraisal of three aspects: the patient's health literacy, the relevance of the online information to be discussed, and their own communicative efficacy. At the end, the process of interpretation underlying the strategies is discussed to expand on it and to identify implications for practice and research.
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Some HCPs believed patients should take responsibility for their own health and be able to make decisions, provided they can base these decisions on high-quality sources of information.
“They also believed patients should take responsibility for their own health and be able to make decisions, provided that they can base these decisions on high-quality sources of information [48].”
It can become difficult for HCPs to do their jobs efficiently as they may need to explain, interpret or suggest a conflicting opinion to information presented from online resources.
“It can become difficult for HCP’s to do their jobs efficiently as they may need to explain, interpret or suggest a conflicting opinion to the information presented from online resources [48].”
Several HCPs believed that the internet poses risks as patients may misinterpret information and this can cause unnecessary medical visits.
“Several HCP’s also believed that the internet poses risks as patients may misinterpret information and this can also cause unnecessary medical visits [28, 48].”
Some studies showed that HCPs perceive internet health information as damaging to the patient-HCP relationship.
“Some studies showed that HCP’s perceive internet health information as damaging to the patient-HCP relationship [48]”
Some HCPs thought online health information could cause anxiety among patients - especially when the information was misinterpreted, and this could lead to unnecessary medical visits.
“Some also thought it could cause anxiety among patients – especially when the information was misinterpreted, and this could lead to unnecessary medical visits [28, 48].”
Evidence from existing literature has previously suggested how online self-diagnosis can introduce a negative impact on the patient-HCP relationship.
“Evidence from existing literature has previously suggested how online self-diagnosis can introduce a negative impact on the patient-HCP relationship [48]”
Previous evidence found that the internet can potentially have a negative impact on the patient-HCP relationship and can cause barriers in the relationship.
“Although evidence has previously found that the internet can potentially have a negative impact on the patient-HCP relationship and can cause barriers in the relationship [48]”
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- Authors
- Caiata-Zufferey, M., & Schulz, P. J.
- Affiliations
- Università della Svizzera italiana (CH)
- ORCID
- Schulz, Peter J.
- Venue
- Health Communication
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2012-11
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 738-749
- ISSN
- 1041-0236 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7027
- OpenAlex
- W2023260546
- Cited by
- 67
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 3.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Health Communication (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Keywords
- physician-patient communication, online health information, communication strategies, physician attitudes, health literacy, communication effectiveness, primary care
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Communication, Female, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Male, Middle Aged, Physician-Patient Relations, Physicians, Internet, Health Literacy
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