Health Care and the Internet

Since the mid-1990s, information and communication technologies, in particular the Internet, have supported the development of new practices for accessing, receiving, providing, and seeking health care. Millions of Internet users throughout the world can directly and freely access health information about specific diseases, overcoming space and time constraints in the process. Information found via the web appears to influence the health decision-making process.

This entry defines health care and discusses the development of health care practices and tools that rely on the Internet, including those used by health care providers and those used by the public. It then details the advantages and disadvantages of using the Internet for health care and some of the facilitators and barriers to the effective use of the Internet for health ...