E-health networks, p-
5
Commercial health sites are, indeed, noticeably different from non-profit or governmental
sites. A content analysis of commercial and government health website features found that
academic materials, search methods and tools, and topic headings were more frequently available
on government than on commercial sites, while commercial health websites provided more
interactivity among users, such as chat rooms and newsgroups (Rice et al., 2001). Street and
Rimal (1997) note that the interactivity of the Internet provides a modicum of control to users;
they can modify content, and respond to prior actions and other participants, for example. A
more radical form that this interaction can take may be shown in the case of
MedicineOnline.com, which even offers an auction service in which patients can elicit physician
bids for surgeries. More typical is HealthCentral.com, which allows users to create their own
health profiles and provide personal feedback (Allen, 1999). However, such interactive websites
are not without problems.
One particularly sensitive area is that of privacy. Past abuses and potential exploitation of
personal information may cause many to be reluctant to go online in the first place. Certainly this
appeared to be the case in 1995 (Katz & Aspden, 1997). Ultimately, these practices could erode
the ability of the Internet to provide services to precisely those who would most benefit from the
web. At the same time, it is worth pointing out that while recent federal regulations stipulate
extensive privacy measures for people’s electronic health data, they may at the same time be
impeding the ability to deliver timely service. At the very least, they are costly and burdensome
(Parker, 2003).
Online Health Information Quality
Researchers consistently find problems with the quality of online health information, in
commercial sites as well as on discussion lists, usenet newsgroups, and online support groups
Convention