With Just One Click

Nearly 100 million individuals use the Internet to search for health information, which has the potential to allow consumers to make more informed decisions about their health care. But how do consumers know whether they can trust what they find? In this commentary, the author discusses a study by Zingmond and colleagues of web-site content offered by acute care hospitals in California. The researchers found that of 390 hospitals examined, 331 had a website and that 70% of the sites provided some form of health information and 22% offered access to information regarding clinical trials. For-profit hospitals were less likely to provide health-related content on their web sites than nonprofit hospitals. Given that hospitals are taking advantage of this new digital technology, the author suggests that future research is needed to help content developers design and assess online informational resources that are of true benefit to patients and their families.