Over half a million people per month are searching for, and selecting, their doctor online via physician web sites, and the numbers are increasing very rapidly. Patients are able to access this exclusive new online service through a collaboration between some of the nation's largest health plans and Medem, which is a secure physician communication network founded by the nation's medical societies and the American Medical Association.

National surveys have shown that patients are more likely to select a doctor who has a web site or who uses email to communicate with patients. Surveys also suggest that patients will even change doctors just to get this access.

Humphrey Taylor, chairman of the Harris Poll, explains, "Our surveys indicate that many millions of patients want online access to their physicians via the web, and increasingly they are demanding it. The large numbers of insured patients finding and selecting their physicians online confirm and reinforce our national survey findings."

The 90,000- strong Medem physician network is integrated with provider directories of health plans representing over 60 million Americans. Plans link their online provider directories (where 70% of insured consumers select their doctor) to the Medem network where patients can see the physician's photo, investigate background, education and training, learn about practice setting, philosophy, etc. This is a drastic change from the traditional method where patients would typically only know the name, specialty, phone number and address when selecting their physician. Most major national health plans as well as powerful regional health plans now offer this service.

Physicians have found these network links to be a steady source of new insured patients. Their practices also use the network to communicate with patients, and doctors themselves provide online consultations via the network for which they receive a fee.