Yesterday’s New York Times published a series of articles of health information searching on the Web. Among the many interesting quotes, one that resonated with me was in this article from Dr. Michael Fisch, interim chairman of general oncology for the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Fisch expressed concern about information overload. He commented, “Just like with medicine, you have to ask yourself what dose you can take. For some people, more information makes them wackier, while others get more relaxed and feel more empowered.”

I would never use the term “wackier,” but there no doubt are some consumers who suffer from what I call “information overdose” while others fully embrace the democratization of information.

Other corollaries between medication prescribing (Rx)  and information prescribing (Ix) exist as well. Despite the tremendous value that good medications or good information can provide for patients in need, wrong or inaccurate information can produce negative “side effects.”

In fact, one of the goals of Ix or information therapy is to proactively deliver the appropriate dose, frequency, and duration of the information that an individual needs at just the right time to make a better decision or lead a healthier life. If deployed correctly, new technologies can facilitate information prescribing targeted to paritcular moments in care and tailored to people’s individual needs.

We always want to maintain the availability of “over-the-counter” Ix. In no way, should information be available “by prescription only.” But availability of information does not necessarily translate into access to usable, meaningful, understandable information.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 1:16 pm and is filed under Information Quality, Ix Definitions, The New Health Care Consumer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.