Few rural general practitioners use the Internet frequently in regard to patient care

To benchmark North Island rural general practitioner (GP) access to computers and the Internet, both at work and home, and assess whether rural GPs are using the Internet in regard to patient care.

Cross-sectional postal survey of all North Island rural GPs in mid-2003.

175 of 289 GPs (60.6%) returned useable questionnaires. Most (89.0%) reported computer availability at work when consulting, but even more had access to a computer at home (97.1%, p<0.01). Access to the Internet was also lower at work (68.6%) than at home (98.8%, p<0.01). Fewer GPs (p<0.05) reported ever using the Internet at work in regard to patients (56.5%) than at home (71.9%). Less than 10% of all GPs used the Internet three or more times a week at work (6.9%) or home (8.6%) in regard to patients. Of those with Internet access at work, 27.0% had broadband (fast Internet) access. Predictors of having (versus not having) work Internet access were computer availability in consultations (p=0.04).

Few North Island rural GPs use the Internet frequently in regard to patient care, despite increasing access to computers and the Internet, both at work and home.