Towards Quality of Health Science Information on the Internet

Abstract

With the advent of Internet and rapid development of other information technologies, there is a paradigm change in the quantity and quality of health information available to medical professionals. There is a plethora of information available on subjects such as medical conditions/disorders, treatments, drug and other therapies and research on the Internet. Though Internet has created new opportunities to improve decision-making to handle typical cases related to healthcare, it has also generated many unprecedented problems. The changing nature of information distribution has important implications for healthcare: issues like the quality of care and the validity and consistency of available information. The quality of health information available on the Internet is important, because it has the potential to benefit or harm a large number of people. The paper discusses the problems of aplenty of medical-related information available on the Internet, and how to sift the quality information from the available information. The paper recommends the development of technology-based tools that support the assessment and development of quality health information on the Internet.

DOI: 10.14429/djlit.28.6.220