E-Health and Ensuring Quality

2011 ◽  
pp. 1965-1975
Author(s):  
Prajesh Chhanabhai
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
The United States ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Portal ◽  
Gray Area ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Year 2000

The Internet is one of the most utilized resources for obtaining information, learning, communication, and as a source of advice. The most sought after advice and information are related with health matters. In the United States, for example, over 16 million people per year visit WebMD (http:// my.webmd.com/webmd_today/home/default), an online portal dedicated to providing health information and services (Sass, 2003). Health information on the Internet has grown exponentially, with up to 88 million adults predicted to access medical information online in 2005 (Ansani et al., 2005). This merging of medical knowledge and information knowledge has given birth to e-health. Despite the growth and application of information and communications technology (ICT) in health care over the last 15 years, e-health is a relatively new concept, with the term being introduced in the year 2000 (Pagliari et al., 2005). Its use has grown exponentially, and as Pagliari et al. (2005) reported, there are over 320,000 publications addressing e-health listed in MEDLINE alone. However, there is still no clear definition of e-health. There have been two international calls, in 2001 and 2004, for a clear and concise definition of e-health, but both failed to produce an internationally acceptable definition. In the same paper, Pagliari et al. (2005) found 24 different definitions, highlighting the fact that this is a gray area. Hence, without a clear and standardized definition, the opportunities to conduct unethical behavior are made easier.

E-Health and Ensuring Quality

2011 ◽  
pp. 170-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prajesh Chhanabhai
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Portal

The Internet is one of the most utilized resources for obtaining information, learning, communication, and as a source of advice. The most sought after advice and information are related with health matters. In the United States, for example, over 16 million people per year visit WebMD (http://my.webmd.com/webmd_today/ home/default), an online portal dedicated to providing health information and services (Sass, 2003). Health information on the Internet has grown exponentially, with up to 88 million adults predicted to access medical information online in 2005 (Ansani et al., 2005). This merging of medical knowledge and information knowledge has given birth to e-health.

Discussing Health Issues on the Internet

2011 ◽  
pp. 78-86
Author(s):  
Jane Moon
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Immediate Feedback ◽  
Health Information Seeking Behavior ◽  
Seeking Behavior

This article provides an overview of the trend in Internet usage; in particular, the trend that relates particularly to health-information-seeking behavior. It discusses a paradigm shift in patientdoctor relationships that has resulted from social changes; that is, lack of consultation time, thirst for medical knowledge, mass-media medical information and an explosion in the number of health Web sites. The Internet has become an important medium for bridging the gap in the patient-doctor relationship. Issues of Internet quality are explored. While the Internet can help consumers by providing immediate feedback as far as treatment and medication are concerned, without proper standards and quality assurance it can give rise to diabolical consequences (Crocco, Villasis-Keever, & Jadad, 2002). Ciolek describes information on the Internet as mediocre and argues that health information on the Internet is subject to “Multi Media Mediocrity” (MMM) (Ciolek, 1997).

Discussing Health Issues on the Internet

2011 ◽  
pp. 133-139
Author(s):  
Jane Moon
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Immediate Feedback ◽  
Health Information Seeking Behavior ◽  
Seeking Behavior

This article provides an overview of the trend in Internet usage; in particular, the trend that relates particularly to health-information-seeking behavior. It discusses a paradigm shift in patient-doctor relationships that has resulted from social changes; that is, lack of consultation time, thirst for medical knowledge, mass-media medical information and an explosion in the number of health Web sites. The Internet has become an important medium for bridging the gap in the patient-doctor relationship. Issues of Internet quality are explored. While the Internet can help consumers by providing immediate feedback as far as treatment and medication are concerned, without proper standards and quality assurance it can give rise to diabolical consequences (Crocco, Villasis-Keever, & Jadad, 2002). Ciolek describes information on the Internet as mediocre and argues that health information on the Internet is subject to “Multi Media Mediocrity” (MMM) (Ciolek, 1997).

scholarly journals Cancer patients’ information seeking behavior related to online electronic healthcare records

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 146045822110247
Author(s):  
Hanife Rexhepi ◽  
Isto Huvila ◽  
Rose-Mharie Åhlfeldt ◽  
Åsa Cajander
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Information Seeking Behavior ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Information Horizons ◽  
Health Information Sources

Patients’ online access to their EHR together with the rapid proliferation of medical information on the Internet has changed how patients use information to learn about their health. Patients’ tendency to turn to the Internet to find information about their health and care is well-documented. However, little is known about patients’ information seeking behavior when using online EHRs. By using information horizons as an analytical tool this paper aims to investigate the information behavior of cancer patients who have chosen to view their EHRs (readers) and to those who have not made that option (non-readers). Thirty interviews were conducted with patients. Based on information horizons, it seems that non-reading is associated with living in a narrower information world in comparison to readers. The findings do not suggest that the smallness would be a result of active avoidance of information, or that it would be counterproductive for the patients. The findings suggest, however, that EHRs would benefit from comprehensive linking to authoritative health information sources to help users to understand their contents. In parallel, healthcare professionals should be more aware of their personal role as a key source of health information to those who choose not to read their EHRs.

Internet as a Source of Health Information and its Perceived Influence on Personal Empowerment

2011 ◽  
pp. 958-974
Author(s):  
Guy Paré ◽  
Jean-Nicolas Malek ◽  
Claude Sicotte ◽  
Marc Lemire
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Internet Use ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Personal Empowerment ◽  
Participative Approach ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Search For Information

The primary aim of this study is twofold. First, the authors seek to identify the factors that influence members of the general public to conduct Internet searches for health information. Their second intent is to explore the influence such Internet use has on three types of personal empowerment. In the summer of 2007 the authors conducted a household sample survey of a population of Canadian adults. A total of 261 self-administered questionnaires were returned to the researchers. Our findings indicate that use of the Internet as a source of health information is directly related to three main factors: sex, age and the individual’s perceived ability to understand, interpret and use the medical information available online. Further, their results lend support to the notion that using the Internet to search for information about health issues represents a more consumer based and participative approach to health care. This study is one of the first to relate Internet use to various forms of personal empowerment. This area appears to have great potential as a means by which consumers can become more empowered in managing personal health issues.

Introduction: Yahoo!

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Goldsmith ◽  
Tim Wu
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
The United States ◽  
General Definition ◽  
The Internet ◽  
French Law ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Government Power ◽  
Definition Of

Marc Knobel is a French Jew who has devoted his life to fighting neo-Nazism, a fight that has taken him repeatedly to the Internet and American websites. In February 2000, Knobel was sitting in Paris, searching the Web for Nazi memorabilia. He went to the auction site of yahoo.com, where to his horror he saw page after page of swastika arm bands, SS daggers, concentration camp photos, and even replicas of the Zyklon B gas canisters. He had found a vast collection of Nazi mementos, for sale and easily available in France but hosted on a computer in the United States by the Internet giant Yahoo. Two years earlier, Knobel had discovered Nazi hate sites on America Online and threatened a public relations war. AOL closed the sites, and Knobel assumed that a similar threat against Yahoo would have a similar effect. He was wrong. AOL, it turned out, was atypical. Located in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, AOL had always been sensitive to public relations, politics, and the realities of government power. It was more careful than most Internet companies about keeping offensive information off its sites. Yahoo, in contrast, was a product of Silicon Valley’s 1990s bubble culture. From its origins as the hobby of Stanford graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo, Yahoo by 2000 had grown to be the mighty “Lord of the Portals.” At the time, Yahoo was the Internet entrance point for more users than any other website, with a stock price, as 2000 began, of $475 per share. Yang, Yahoo’s billionaire leader, was confident and brash—he “liked the general definition of a yahoo: ‘rude, unsophisticated, uncouth.’” Obsessed with expanding market share, he thought government dumb, and speech restrictions dumber still. Confronted by an obscure activist complaining about hate speech and invoking French law, Yang’s company shrugged its high-tech shoulders. Mark Knobel was not impressed. On April 11, 2000, he sued Yahoo in a French court on behalf of the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism and others. Yahoo’s auctions, he charged, violated a French law banning trafficking in Nazi goods in France.

scholarly journals Participatory medicine as a new way to produce medical knowledge

2010 ◽  
Vol 09 (04) ◽  
pp. C04
Author(s):  
Denise Silber
Keyword(s):  
Medical Information ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Linear Diffusion ◽  
Diffusion Of Knowledge ◽  
Communication Practices ◽  
Participatory Medicine ◽  
The Web

Public communication on health issues on the Internet is not only a matter of popularization of medical information. It deeply deals with narration, conversation and dialogue, which are typical values in the Web 2.0. This interview will emphasize that blogs, forums, wiki are new ways in which population has been reconstructing and integrating medical knowledge. These ways are re-defining medical knowledge by means of unhinging the standard medical communication practices, based on a linear diffusion of knowledge form experts to laypeople.

scholarly journals Online Information About Periviable Birth: Quality Assessment (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriane F Haragan ◽  
Carly A Zuwiala ◽  
Katherine P Himes
Keyword(s):  
Medical Information ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Information ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Comfort Care ◽  
Treatment Choices ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Google Search

BACKGROUND Over 20,000 parents in the United States face the challenge of participating in decisions about whether to use life support for their infants born on the cusp of viability every year. Clinicians must help families grasp complex medical information about their baby’s immediate prognosis as well as the risk for significant long-term morbidity. Patients faced with this decision want supplemental information and frequently seek medical information on the Internet. Empirical evidence about the quality of websites is lacking. OBJECTIVE We sought to evaluate the quality of online information available about periviable birth and treatment options for infants born at the cusp of viability. METHODS We read a counseling script to 20 pregnant participants that included information typically provided by perinatal and neonatal providers when periviable birth is imminent. The women were then asked to list terms they would use to search the Internet if they wanted additional information. Using these search terms, two reviewers evaluated the content of websites obtained via a Google search. We used two metrics to assess the quality of websites. The first was the DISCERN instrument, a validated questionnaire designed to assess the quality of patient-targeted health information for treatment choices. The second metric was the Essential Content Tool (ECT), a tool designed to address key components of counseling around periviable birth as outlined by professional organizations. DISCERN scores were classified as low quality if scores were 2, fair quality if scores were 3, and high quality if scores were 4 or higher. Scores of 6 or higher on the ECT were considered high quality. Interreviewer agreement was assessed by calculated kappa statistic. RESULTS A total of 97 websites were reviewed. Over half (57/97, 59%) were for-profit sites, news stories, or personal blogs; 28% (27/97) were government or medical sites; and 13% (13/97) were nonprofit or advocacy sites. The majority of sites scored poorly in DISCERN questions designed to assess the reliability of information presented as well as data regarding treatment choices. Only 7% (7/97) of the websites were high quality as defined by the DISCERN tool. The majority of sites did not address the essential content defined by the ECT. Importantly, only 18% of websites (17/97) indicated that there are often a number of reasonable approaches to newborn care when faced with periviable birth. Agreement was strong, with kappa ranging from .72 to .91. CONCLUSIONS Most information about periviable birth found on the Internet using common search strategies is of low quality. News stories highlighting positive outcomes are disproportionately represented. Few websites discuss comfort care or how treatment decisions impact quality of life.

scholarly journals A pilot project to increase health literacy among youth from seasonal farmworker families in rural eastern North Carolina: a qualitative exploration of implementation and impact

2019 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel M. Mendez ◽  
Mary Lisa Pories ◽  
Leah Cordova ◽  
Andreina Malki ◽  
Melinda F. Wiggins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
National Network ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Seasonal Agricultural Workers

Objective: There are substantial health inequalities for seasonal agricultural workers and their families in the United States. One identified inequality is in health literacy. The authors explored the implementation and impact of connecting youth from seasonal farmworker families who participated in a leadership and college pipeline program with Internet access by providing a tablet with a paid cellular data plan and university library–based health literacy training.Methods: With the support of a National Network of Libraries of Medicine Health Information Outreach Award, we conducted a qualitative, utilization-focused evaluation by conducting semi-structured interviews from December 2017 through February 2018 with middle and high school age participants in the program (n=10). After parental consent and youth assent, we recorded interviews with participants at program activity locations or in their homes. We then utilized inductive thematic analysis with 2 primary coders.Results: We identified four themes: (1) having access to the Internet can be transformative, (2) access resulted in increased knowledge of and interest in one’s own and others’ health, (3) “Google” is the norm, and (4) participant training increased self-efficacy to determine credible sources and resources.Conclusion: Providing Internet access and iPads was possible to implement and resulted in increased utilization of health information. The combination of Internet access with training on information literacy was a key factor in achieving these positive outcomes. The findings suggest the importance of ensuring equitable access to the Internet in efforts to improve educational and health outcomes for seasonal farmworkers and their families.

scholarly journals Education and Consumer Informatics

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (01) ◽  
pp. 72-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Boyer ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Health Informatics ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Consumer Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
Nhs Direct ◽  
Consumer Informatics ◽  
Number Of Individuals

Summary Objectives: To evaluate the extent to which the Internet is accessed for health information and perceived as useful to varying groups classified primarily according to age. Method: Synopsis of the articles on education and consumer health informatics selected for the IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics 2010. Results: A growing number of individuals are actively seeking health information through a varying selection of resources. The Internet is now seen as a major source of health information alongside with books and other means of paper-based literature. However, it is not clear how the Internet is perceived by varied groups such as those coming from differing age groups. Conclusion: The papers selected attempt to obtain a better understanding about how the public perceives and uses the Internet as an information gathering tool—especially for health information. The papers also explore into how the Internet is used by different groups of people. As all online health information is not of uniform quality, it is important to access and rely on quality medical information. This issue is also dealt with, where the popularity of Wikipedia is measured with the popularity of reliable web sources such as Medline Plus and NHS Direct.

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