Survey SaysMembers Value Neurosurgical Books and the Internet

AANS members say they highly value the books published by the Association, counting neurosurgical books as a valuable service for the AANS to offer to members. They also are seeing increasing numbers of patients who are mining the Internet for health care information and using that information as background for consulting with their physicians.

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These are among the notable results of the member survey distributed with the spring 2000 issue of the AANS Bulletin. The survey combined five questions soliciting member opinions about AANS books with a second set of six questions on how patients are using the Internet. At press time, 135 surveys had been returned.

The results from the first section of the survey will help guide the AANS Publications Committee, chaired by Warren R. Selman, MD. The AANS typically publishes about six books annually, including volumes expanding the Neurosurgical Topics series and historical and reference texts. A significant majority of respondents – nearly 75 percent – reported buying between one and five neurosurgical books annually;16% said they purchase six to 10 neurosurgical books each year, and 6% buy more than 10 neurosurgical books annually.

The survey asked about the topic areas in which respondents would be interested in buying books (see figure 1). More than 50 percent of the respondents indicated that they would be likely to purchase operative atlases, as well as books on spine topics. The AANS Neurosurgical Operative Atlas series was launched in 1992; Volume 9, the newest in the series, was introduced in April.

Additional AANS books published this year include the Neurosurgical Topics book LINAC and Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, edited by Isabelle M. Germano, MD, and Neurosurgical Classics II, compiled by Robert H. Wilkins, MD, and Gloria K. Wilkins. Two new books will be available this summer: Neural Prostheses, edited by Robert J. Maciunas, MD, and Contemporary Management of Spinal Cord Injury: From Impact to Rehabilitation edited by Edward C. Benzel, MD, and Charles H. Tator, MD. Many respondents indicated interest in publications on practice management. In response, the AANS introduced a new line of practice management publications produced by noted publishers, including the AMA and Conomikes, Inc.) and Conomikes, Inc.

The Value of the Web
The Internet is growing quickly as a source of health care information for patients, according to the respondents. Nearly 60% of the respondents said that, in 1999, up to 15% of their patients researched their conditions on the Internet. Almost 25% of respondents said that between 16 and 30% of their patients had consulted the Internet about their conditions (See figure 2).

The survey also revealed that about 35% of the respondents currently have a Web site for their practice, and another 34% plan to develop a Web site within the next year. With that in mind, the AANS has announced a new member benefit in partnership with Medem, an Internet health information site sponsored by the AMA and several medical specialty societies. AANS members can register for a practice Web site to be hosted by Medem that can include customized practice information, information about the physicians in the practice, and selections from a content library provided by Medem’s specialty society contributors, including the AANS.
For more information about AANS books, call (888) 566-AANS or visit www.aans.org. For information on Medem’s Web services, visit www.medem.com