No matter what symptoms, diagnoses or treatments people face today, more and more of us are turning to Dr Google for information and reassurance.  Maybe we’re looking for some form of comfort, maybe a second opinion, maybe we just want to know more without the need to ask questions out loud?  Either way, it’s a fact of life today that more and more of us are looking to our mobile phones, laptops and desktops when it comes to digging deeper on our health.

At PhysioWizard® we find this really interesting, because what we’re about is using technology in the cleverest way to improve patient outcomes.  That means we’re really interested in finding out more about what people really think of Dr Google.

With this in mind, in order to better understand what people think of Dr Google, we carried out a study and asked a sample of people a range of questions in order to get their view on online health solutions.  We found their responses quite revealing.
Here are just some of the questions we asked:

Question: Have you previously looked up information about your back on the internet (Google)?

Response: Out of 56 respondents, 35 confirmed that they had looked for information about their back on Google, whereas the remaining 21 had not.
Question: Did you find the information on Google:  Helpful or Not Helpful?
Response: 35 people responded to this question, with 23 of them saying that they found the information helpful and 12 did not find it helpful to them.
And this is where our survey got very interesting, because we then asked the question: Were you able to find the right information to help you manage your back problem?  34 respondents answered this question which had 3 possible responses: Yes, No or Unsure. 

Out of the people who responded, 5 said they were able to find the right information to help them manage their back problem, 10 said they weren’t able to and 19 were left unsure after their search.

We then dug deeper on the trust they had in the information that they sourced from Dr Google by asking: Did you trust that the information you found on Google was accurate for your problem?  Once again we had 34 respondents, 4 of which said yes; 10 said no and 20 were unsure.  One respondent left a comment saying that they felt there was no substitute for professional knowledge.

So what does this tell us?

At PhysioWizard®, we found these responses incredibly reassuring. 

Why? 

Because they clearly demonstrate that people are comfortable turning to online solutions when they have a health issue.  They also appear to be relatively happy with the high level information that Dr Google gives them, but when it comes to drilling deeper they are typically left feeling disappointed or dissatisfied. 
How does this help us achieve our goals at PhysioWizard®?  

These findings help to reassure us that our vision is realistic and fits well with where consumers, patients, call them what you prefer, are on their online health journey.  They are already turning to Dr Google, which means that they’re happy to reveal their fears, worries and symptoms online.  However, perhaps overwhelmed by the overload of information or perhaps lacking the direction needed to get to the right solution, many leave their online search without feeling as if they’ve significantly moved forward.  But what if these same people’s enthusiasm for online solutions was more guided, more targeted and came with a human support?  There is where we believe the magic lies.  We believe that technology plus human intervention is a magical and highly powerful combination.  And the great news is - that’s exactly what our PhysioWizard® solution provides.
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If you’re an Occupational Health professional, Private Health Care provider or are in the Public Health Sector and would like to find out more about how PhysioWizard® could make life easier for you and your patients, why not request a demo?

It is now an accepted fact that any website that’s aiming to appeal to a broad audience needs to be responsive, so it functions equally well across desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones.  This requirement is a given for web developers and business owners alike, but what particularly interests us at PhysioWizard® is understanding more about how people choose to search for health information online. 
We’re keen to know more about people’s preferred device when it comes to health self-assessment.  Our specific areas of interest relate to whether people are more likely to feel comfortable answering self-assessment questions on their phone, their laptop or their desktop for example?  Also, we’re keen to know which operating systems they use and how they see the future of health self-assessment.
With this desire to know more in mind, we recently set about asking a sample of potential online health solution searchers these questions:

1. Would you prefer to do your assessment on a: Smart Phone, Tablet, Laptop or Personal Computer?
2. Which operating system do you use:  Windows, Android or Apple (Mac)?
3. How valuable do you think online health self-assessments will be in the future?

Here are the responses we got:

Preferred devices
When it comes to choosing which device to turn to, an overwhelming 46.81% of respondents said they would prefer to do their assessment on a smart phone, 27.66% on a tablet, 36.17% on a laptop and only 19.15% on a personal computer.

Preferred operating system
In our study, 21 out of 47 respondents use Windows, 14 Android and 19 Apple (Mac).

The value of online health self-assessment?
This free-form question gave rise to a range of interesting results going from very valuable to not very valuable.  However, it was the responses in between these two extremes that were the most interesting. 
From the responses we got, it appears that there is a general consensus that online health self-assessments are valuable, which is encouraging.  What’s more, most people say that they would find this type of solution even more valuable if combined with a human element, which is what we at PhysioWizard® provide.  What we are seeing is a real desire for reliable, accessible, comprehensive and comprehensible information that people have fast and easy access to.  Very encouraging indeed.  Why?  Because once again this reinforces our vision.
As we’ve said before, at PhysioWizard®, our goal is not to replace human intervention in muscle and joint problem triage and treatment, it is to relieve skilled professionals of the run of the mill tasks that are a drain on resources and a frustration for patients.  We believe that a clever combination of the right technology, presented in the right way to patients, with quality human support as a backup really is the key to getting people well faster.  This belief is at the core of everything we are doing to develop and promote our fast and effective solution.  We hope you share our vision and would love to hear your thoughts on the future of health self-assessment.
If you’re an Occupational Health professional, Private Health Care provider or are in the Public Health Sector and would like to find out more about how PhysioWizard® could make life easier for you and your patients, why not request a demo?