Assessing, Controlling, and Assuring the Quality of Medical Information on the Internet

摘要: Health care professionals and patients alike should view with equal parts delight concern the exponential growth of Internet (the Net), especially its graphical, user-friendly subset, World Wide Web Web), as a medical information delivery tool. 1,2 Delight because hosts large number high-quality resources poses seemingly endless opportunities to inform, teach, connect alike. Concern fulfillment that promise remains discouragingly distant. Technical glitches aside, when it comes information, too often resembles cocktail conversation rather than tool for effective health communication decision making. See also p 1258. The problem is not little but much, vast chunks incomplete, misleading, or inaccurate, only in arena. 3,4 Net—and Web—has potential become world's largest vanity press.