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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Donald A. B. Lindberg, MD; Betsy L. Humphreys, MLS

JAMA. 1998;280:1303-1304.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

COMBINING COMPUTERS, communication networks, online medical information, and electronic patient data can improve health care decisions, prevent dangerous oversights, increase access to care, and reduce unnecessary cost.¹ It is becoming easier to envision a future in which this powerful combination of digital technology and data is available throughout the United States. Recent developments illustrate the technical, organizational, and public policy challenges that will accompany this future. Predictably, user expectations and technical advances are outpacing the resolution of organizational and public policy issues.

Progress

Internet use is growing rapidly in the US health arena and in the population at large. Virtually all libraries in academic medical centers have Internet access, and the percentage of hospital libraries with Internet connections rose from 24% to 72% between 1993 and 1997.² Demand for free Web-based health information is enormous. When the National Library of Medicine announced . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Challenges

Public Policy Hazards

From the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Md. Dr Lindberg is a member of the JAMA Editorial Board.

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