The traditional doctor-patient relationship is changing as more and more patients use IT to take control of their own healthcare. This EMIS sponsored feature looks at some of the innovative projects that are moving the boundaries.

EMIS managing director Sean Riddell considers the democratisation of healthcare that is forecast by the recent government white paper, Working Together - Public Services on Your Side. The paper called for an "information revolution" to enable people to interact with public services in new ways.

Many EMIS practices are already beginning to realise this radical vision - empowering patients through secure online services such as access to medical records, booking or cancelling appointments and ordering repeat medication. Marple Cottage Surgery in Stockport has gone even further, by developing online consultations for some chronic disease sufferers.

Pivotal to the information revolution is the internet. Patient information website www.patient.co.uk, for example, now has more than 4m users a month.

It is also taking part in a Department of Health initiative to accredit information providers and so help patients to navigate a safe path through the maze of variable information online. Dr Gordon Brooks, site director of www.patient.co.uk, considers the significance of this move.