The amassing of health information on the Internet and World Wide Web continues unabated . Patients anxious to participate in decisions about their own treatment have turned to the Internet to confirm diagnoses , validate physician-recommended treatment , or seek alternative therapies . While increased information for patients has been linked to improved outcomes , there are inherent dangers associated with the kind of unauthenticated information available on the Web . The authors discuss the nature of these dangers as well as review the advantages for patients of “information therapy ” (improved access to health information ). They also examine how the Internet has begun to affect the physician-patient relationship , and describe how the Internet and information technology can be effectively used by physicians in patient care . They recommend that the academic health sciences community seize the opportunity to take the lead in ensuring that patients have access to reliable health information , and suggest that “patient informatics ” be integrated by academic physicians and educators into the teaching of clinical skills .