THE ROLE OF THE INTERNET IN MEDICAL DECISION-MAKING

The Internet has dramatically changed the means by which information i s obtained. Accurate, up-to-date information is vital to maintain the quality of healthcare, especially as US healthcare delivery changes to a primary care-based system. The availability of this new and potenti ally vast source of information also affects strategies for medical de cision making. In this article, use of online information in our medic al center is discussed, together with the impact of a locally-develope d decision support system. This system first contained components for differential diagnosis as well as computer-assisted instruction. Initi ally, online searching was limited to Medline literature searches. Thi s component has now been expanded to include important new tools for a ccessing medical information on the Internet. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scienc e B.V.