The Internet has become a major cost factor in health care. Because of the Internet, patients are better informed, more demanding, and have higher expectations for their care. The volumes of Internet use are immense: almost 100 million adult Americans now [in 2003] use the Internet for health care information. Some Internet experts believe that more people now use the Net for health information than for shopping or pornography.

Across the country, doctors report that when they tell a patient that he or she has a serious disease, more often than not, the patient goes home, cranks up a favorite…