The Duke University Health System is giving patients the ability to set medical appointments over the Internet as part of a systemwide effort to encourage patients to take greater control of their care.

Dr. Michael Cuffe, the Duke system's senior administrator over patient quality and safety, said today that a handful of Duke-affiliated primary care practices will allow patients to schedule appointments online starting next month. All Duke practices should offer the capability by this summer, Cuffe said. No phone call to the practice will be needed.

"It'll be just like booking an airline reservation and choosing your own seat," Cuffe said.

To use the appointment scheduling feature, patients must register on Duke's new patient portal, called Healthview. The site, which currently has about 25,000 users, already enables patients to update personal information, including health insurance, view and pay medical bills and look at scheduled appointments.

Over time, the site will evolve to offer more and more patient medical information, such as results of Pap tests or cholesterol screenings. Duke has tested that feature with some Duke patients and it has been well received, said Dr. Victor Dzau, the system's chief executive officer.

"In some cases the patients see the lab results before the doctors," he said.