SXSW 2012 - Will Online Patient Communities Replace Primary Care?

Will Online Patient Communities Replace Primary Care?
Event	Interactive 2011
Format	Dual
Organizer	Greg Matthews – WCG
Description	With doctors spending less and less time with their patients, patients with chronic conditions are turning more and more often to their peers instead of (or optimally in addition to) the medical community for guidance. With the rise of online health communities such as Patients Like Me and CureTogether, patients are discovering new treatment options that had never been suggested by the medical establishment, and the establishment is beginning to be interested. An increasing amount of scholarly research is underway now to analyze some of the new and non-traditional treatments being successfully used by patients in these communities. As they continue to grow and spread, how will that change primary care? Could patient communities actually replace your primary care doctor altogether?
Questions Answered	How do patient communities work? What kinds of problems do they help solve? How, if at all, are doctors involved in patient communities? What are the implications for the doctor/patient relationship? How will the other parts of the system (e.g., insurers) be impacted?
Level	Intermediate
Category	Health
Tags	Doctor, patient, primary care

Will Online Patient Communities Replace Primary Care?