title: Use of the Internet by medical doctors in Switzerland.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the utilisation of the Internet by primary care physicians for medical purposes during their daily practice, and to clarify the reasons for use or non-use of this technology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional postal survey in German-speaking Switzerland employing a purpose-designed pre-validated 69-item questionnaire. A random sample of 2009 primary care physicians participated in the investigation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Number of primary care physicians with access to the Internet; reasons for using the Internet during consultations; sources of information in solving medical problems arising from concurrent patient care.
  
  
  RESULTS
  55% of the physicians returned the completed questionnaire. 75% of respondents reported access to the Internet. Only 7% use the Internet during patient consultations. The main reasons for not using the Internet were time pressure and concerns about potential negative interaction with physician-patient communication. To solve patient-specific problems arising during daily practice, 59% of the practitioners consult text-books or colleagues. Only 14% of respondents report regularly finding useful information on the Internet. Internet users assess information quality by checking on authorship, institution, publishing company, or whether the information is sponsored by a third party with a potential conflict of interest.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Access to the Internet is widespread amongst German-speaking Swiss primary care physicians. Only a small minority use the Internet for information retrieval during consultation hours. Electronic information systems need to be tailored to the needs of primary care physicians.
authors: Horten-Zentrum, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Koller
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Grütter
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Peltenburg
authors: J E
authors: JE
authors: Fischer
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Steurer
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019451:Information Management; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland; D013997:Time Factors