Although US physicians are enthusiastic users of the Web, most are reluctant to practice medicine online.

A recent Cyber Dialogue survey found that 90 percent of physicians have gone online over the past year, while 55 percent are daily Internet users. Despite the popularity of the Net among the medical community, most physicians are not using the Internet to perform work-related tasks such as communicating with patients and storing medical records. Approximately one in five physicians email their patients, while 4 percent prescribe medicine online. Overall, only 20 percent of doctors believe the Internet is essential to their professional practices. The study found that privacy and security concerns have deterred many physicians from using online services. Economic deterrents, such as the cost of Internet access, the amount of time required to learn new systems, and the financial risk of investing in the wrong technology, are also discouraging physicians. Cyber Dialogue said that to persuade physicians to make the jump from personal to clinical use of the Web, Internet companies will need to demonstrate the ways in which online technologies will help physicians improve their medical practices.