Think of Hospital Websites As Advertisements, Not Research
When you’re trying to find out about a medical procedure, the hospital website can seem like a great place to find out everything you need to know. But in many cases, it is more correct to view these sites as advertisements – they are trying to get you to spend money in their hospital.
“While consumers who are bombarded with TV ads may know they are viewing ads, hospital websites often look like educational portals,” wrote a medical ethicist and philosopher at JAMA Internal Medicine . They note that a study of hospital websites about TAVR, a type of heart valve replacement, found that most people claim benefits while ignoring the risks. Patients are not used to looking for this information and this is why the sites are misleading, they say:
For example, an advertisement for a car that does not mention fuel consumption or safety ratings may prompt a consumer to look elsewhere for this information. A TAVR ad that does not mention the possibility of kidney damage or vascular complications is unlikely to raise these questions.
Knowledge of the risks associated with a medical procedure is essential in order to make an intelligent decision. If you’ve heard all about the sunny side of treatment, ask your doctor about the risks, or dig around reliable medical websites for the other side of the story.
Risks of Unbalanced Information on US Hospital Websites | JAMA Internal Medicine via Washington Post