Galina A. Polynskaya - Associate Professor, Department of Marketing, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Address: 1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
E-mail: g.polinskaya@outlook.com

Margarita G. Mesropyan - Doctoral Student, Economic Sociology and Demography Specialty, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation
Address: 49, Leningradsky Prospekt, Moscow, 125993, Russian Federation
E-mail: m.mesropyan.93@gmail.com

      Information and communication technologies have changed the world, affecting all sectors of the national economy including the medical industry. There is rapid growth in the dependence of the quality of medical services on the use of information systems. Gradually, information systems are beginning to take over part of doctors’ work. Digitalization also has affected ordinary citizens. There is a growing popularity of electronic applications and Internet resources in the health care industry among users of the network. As a result, self-diagnosis and self-treatment are improving with their use. Therefore, it is important to assess the possibilities for the coexistence of traditional medicine with modern digital technology opportunities that the citizens are facing these days.
      The authors of this research have carried out a series of studies to identify the patterns of patient behavior using electronic applications and Internet resources for self-diagnosis, as well as factors that contribute to or impede the development of such use. The following actions were performed: high-quality content analysis of medical web applications, 40 in-depth interviews with doctors and pharmacists, a mini focus group with representatives of the health service, as well as an online survey of two hundred respondents in the social network Facebook.
      As a result of the study, patients were segmented according to typical behavioral patterns with regard to the use of electronic applications and Internet resources in the field of medicine. We identified the attitude towards Internet self-diagnosis of doctors and pharmacists on the one hand and patients, on the other, as well as factors contributing to or impeding the growth of Internet diagnostics.