Nashua , New Hampshire ( CNN ) -- `` I read all about my condition on the Internet , '' a recent patient proudly told me . Like other doctors , I 'm seeing more patients research their symptoms thoroughly before setting foot in the exam room . Patients are using the Web in unprecedented ways for their own health empowerment . According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project , 61 percent of American adults looked online for health information in 2009 , up from 46 percent in 2000 . These `` e-patients '' are an essential part of the health care team , and play an increasingly influential role in the shared decision making process with their physicians . Health technology commentator Esther Dyson observed in the Journal of Participatory Medicine that `` the amount of medical knowledge is beyond the reach of any one person , '' and , `` because clinicians are overwhelmed ... a huge amount of responsibility is devolving to individuals . '' But she also noted that e-patients encounter physicians `` who are often hostile to their efforts . '' Indeed , not every physician is enamored with the e-patient . In a TIME opinion piece , orthopedic surgeon Scott Haig called a patient who Googled her own health information a `` brainsucker . '' And , frustrated with the time needed to engage e-patients , he wondered , `` if there [ were ] patients like this in poor , war-torn countries where the need for doctors is more dire . '' Most doctors , however , want their patients to be conscientious about their health and informed about their diseases . In a recent survey , health marketing firm Manhattan Research found that virtually all doctors had patients who searched for health information online , and more than two-thirds of physicians found this to be a positive trend . Given that the majority of doctors support those who take a pro-active stance with their health , why would some patients perceive physicians as hostile to their empowerment ? Simply put , our health system does not promote the communication necessary for physicians to engage e-patients . Most primary care doctors practice in an environment dominated by 15-minute office visits , where encounters are rushed and questions discouraged . Patients , on average , are interrupted less than 20 seconds after they start talking , and half of them leave their appointment without fully understanding what the doctor actually said . As far back as a decade ago , more than two-thirds of physicians already reported not having enough time to spend with patients . And in the face of rising practice and malpractice insurance costs , doctors today are more fiscally pressured than ever to see a greater number of patients . Harvard internist Katherine Treadway wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine that this leads to `` care [ becoming ] increasingly fragmented , leaving patients angry and doctors frustrated . The time demands have exploded , which has eroded everyone 's ability to develop the personal , long-term relationships that are a great source of satisfaction for providers and comfort for patients . '' Furthermore , as other industries have embraced e-mail and digital record keeping , there is little financial incentive for doctors to use them . When a primary care doctor routinely sees 30 patients or more in a day , combined with hours wasted on health insurer bureaucracy , taking the additional time to e-mail patients is not fiscally feasible when it is not reimbursed by Medicare or most health insurers . And with doctors receiving only 11 percent of the savings from implementing expensive digital records -- most of which goes to health insurance companies or the government -- it 's no wonder that only 13 percent of physicians have implemented an electronic record system . Most doctors applaud patients who want to play an active role in their health . But neither the time physicians spend with their patients , nor the use of the tools necessary to facilitate a stronger patient-doctor relationship , are valued . Instead of encouraging physicians to see more patients , Medicare and the health insurers need to reward doctors who take the effort to engage e-patients both in the exam room and outside the clinic . E-patients can help , by recognizing the constraints on physicians and demanding that changes be made in the health system that will help doctors better meet the needs of empowered patients . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Kevin Pho .
More patients thoroughly discuss their concerns online . Dr Kevin Pho says they expect doctors who can respond to their concerns using new tools . He says doctors work in a pressured environment with little time to fully engage with patients . Prevention : Doctors need ways to encourage them to engage with non - patients .