Online Patient Education in a Primary Pediatric PracticeChad Teven, BS; Laura Hodges, BS; Yingshan Shi, MD, MS

Department of Pediatrics, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois

MethodsSince the inception of www.funandeducation.org in 2006, medical students and physicians in the United States and China have participated in locating online patient education resources and linking them to our website. There is an ongoing effort to make the website more robust. In 2009, patients and their families participated in a survey regarding Internet access. We studied Internet accessibility and insurance coverage within local communities surrounding the University of Chicago.

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IntroductionAs more Americans acquire Internet access there has been a corresponding increase in the search for online medical education material. Thus, there is an urgent need for general pediatricians and other primary care physicians to identify and disseminate credible health information online. In addition, patients and parents should be counseled on how to locate useful online health information.  In an effort to provide such services, we have launched www.funandeducation.org, a medical education website with the following goals: to evaluate and disseminate credible health information online; to serve as an educational adjunct in pediatric primary care; to increase primary practice-based research; and to display AAP guidelines to patients and their families.

Conclusions• The majority of patients seen in our clinic have Internet access

• It is now more important than ever to locate and disseminate credible health information online

• Our user-friendly and evidenced-based website has the potential to serve as an adjunct in the education of patients and their families with respect to their health

ResultsWebsite Development

Our website serves as an adjunct to education administered by pediatricians. For the last two years, our website has appeared near or at the top of the results page when “fun and education” is entered into the search box on both Google and Yahoo web portals. There are approximately 250 visits per month; 30-40% of which are from first time visitors. From the work of many physicians and medical students, our website has grown to include information from the following areas:

Table 1: Survey Results.

Figure 1: www.funandeducation.org homepage. This is a snapshot of what the visitor sees when first opening the website.

Well Check Up

• Growth and Nutrition• Development and Learning• Behavior• Immunization• Screening Tests• Anticipatory Guidance and Safety

Medical Information Center

•Information about common symptoms including: asthma, high blood pressure, obesity, etc.• Information based on systems: ENT, Respiratory, Skin, etc.

Age Oriented Health Center

• Newborn and Breast Feeding Center• Toddler Health Center• Online Book for Toddler Health• Childcare Health Center• School Health Center• Teen Health Center

Child Mental Health & ADHD

• Child Mental Health Center• ADHD information Center for: Parents School Primary Care Physicians Medical Education

Community & Referral Center

• Referral Center• Public Health Services• Free Legal Support• Family Disaster Plan Center

Medical Education Resources

• Clinical Knowledge• Clinical Skills• Online Health Resources• Patient Education

With Private Insurance

With Medicaid

Total

Total Number of Families (n)

73 39 112

Number of Families with

Internet Access at Home

72 (98.6%) 34 (87.2%) 106 (94.6%)

Future Directions• To reach more families via web-based education

• To facilitate school outreach via the web

• To perform web-based clinical research to explore the knowledge, beliefs, and decisions of parents for their child’s health care

• To offer residents and medical students the oppor-tunity to gain experience with web-based medical education, community outreach, and clinical research