With the Internet . . . Who Needs Doctors?

I'm not going to get into who should vote for who in the upcoming presidential race - but maybe Senator Obama has a reason to offer government sponsored healthcare - because a lot people are pretty stupid. The reason John McCain's plan won't work is because it requires consumers to be smart shoppers and buy the right healthcare that is best for them. The problem is that it assumes consumers are smart. How did I come to realize that there are a lot of questionable decisions made by people? I was watching the tube last night and an ad came on and this guy said "I trust WebMD because my doctor trusts WebMD." Really? Your doctor uses WebMD? Either the guy doesn't have the internet at home or he is illiterate and can't type in his symptoms into WebMD himself. Otherwise why would he have to go to the doctor's office in the first place - his research on WebMD would be just as good as his doctor's.

This TV ad must make doctors so proud of the time and money they spent at medical school. Just think, all they had to do was open up shop as a "doctor" and have an internet connection and a computer and they would be just as qualified as the doctor referred to in the TV ad. I have never put WebMD to the test, so let's see how good this system is. Below are examples of symptoms I typed into WebMD and the results that were returned.

Issue: Headache Symptoms: Throbbing head, slightly dizzy, unable to focus Result: I must have small amounts of bleeding in my digestive tract

Issue: Paper Cut Symptoms: Slight abrasion on finger, redness, blood Result: I have Lupus

So, if you want to the know the worst possible situation for your symptoms, WebMD should be your source. If you want a professional opinion, keep going to a real doctor, and if you want to save as much as possible on your health insurance, keep going to a WebMD certified doctor that runs shop out of a garage.

PTFP: 7 in.