Use of the Internet as a medical resource by rural physicians

Internet has become an integral tool for modern physicians, and those not ready to embrace this new technology will be missing a valuable resource. This pilot study reviews rural physicians' usage patterns of the Internet as a medical resource and examines the barriers that might preclude rural providers from using this technology.

We undertook a questionnaire survey of rural providers in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Information was elicited about the physicians' Internet access, frequency of Internet use, the different Internet categories used, and the barriers they encountered to using the Internet. A background MEDLINE search was performed using the MeSH headings "Internet," "medical informatics," "and rural health."

Eighty-five percent of providers had Internet access, and 75% of respondents reported using the Internet either daily or one to four times a week. E-mail was the most frequently used category. The next most frequent categories were on-line literature search, professional organizations, special interest Web sites, clinical reference Web sites, on-line journals, and patient education. Lack of time and having no computer were the most important barriers cited.

Although the findings of this survey suggest that, compared with broader physician populations, rural physicians are using the Internet with the same frequency, their scope of use might be much more limited. Barriers to using the Internet are difficult to determine, but lack of time, hardware, and a sense of need appear to be important factors.