NETWORKING CONSUMER HEALTH INFORMATION - BRINGING THE PATIENT INTO THE MEDICAL INFORMATION LOOP

The Library of the Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Ch icago obtained a grant from the Illinois State Library to implement a statewide demonstration project that would provide consumer health inf ormation (CHI) using Info Trac's Health Reference Center CD-ROM databa se. The goals of the project were to cooperate with targeted public li braries and clinics in providing CHI at the earliest Feint of need; to provide access to the database via a dial-up network server and a tol l-free telephone number; and to work with targeted sites on database t raining, core CHI reference sources, and referral procedures, This pap er provides background information about the project; describes the ma jor systems and technical issues encountered; and discusses the outcom es, impact, and envisioned enhancements.