Evaluating critical success factors in implementing E-learning system using multi-criteria decision-making

Learning using the Internet or training through E-Learning is growing rapidly and is increasingly favored over the traditional methods of learning and teaching. This radical shift is directly linked to the revolution in digital computer technology. The revolution propelled by innovation in computer technology has widened the scope of E-Learning and teaching, whereby the process of exchanging information has been made simple, transparent, and effective. The E-Learning system depends on different success factors from diverse points of view such as system, support from the institution, instructor, and student. Thus, the effect of critical success factors (CSFs) on the E-Learning system must be critically analyzed to make it more effective and successful. This current paper employed the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with group decision-making (GDM) and Fuzzy AHP (FAHP) to study the diversified factors from different dimensions of the web-based E-Learning system. The present paper quantified the CSFs along with its dimensions. Five different dimensions and 25 factors associated with the web-based E-Learning system were revealed through the literature review and were analyzed further. Furthermore, the influence of each factor was derived successfully. Knowing the impact of each E-Learning factor will help stakeholders to construct education policies, manage the E-Learning system, perform asset management, and keep pace with global changes in knowledge acquisition and management.

The Online Availability of Multilingual Health Promotion Materials Produced by Local Health Departments: an Information Assessment

OBJECTIVES

Local Health Departments (LHDs) are a key source of health promotion information. For ethnically and culturally diverse communities, it becomes important to provide minorities with language appropriate health information. This project sought to assess the availability of multilingual health promotion materials on LHD websites in Washington State (WA), USA.

METHODS

We performed a cross-sectional study of all 34 LHD websites in WA. We collected and classified health promotion documents available to the public, specifically, whether translated versions were available. We also assessed the extent of document sharing between LHDs.

RESULTS

We identified 1,624 documents across 34 LHDs. Topics most frequently covered were communicable diseases and emergency preparedness. Fewer than 10% of documents were available in non-English languages. We found little evidence of document sharing between LHDs; only 5% of all documents were shared between LHDs.

CONCLUSIONS

WA LHDs provide a variety of health promotion materials for the public, but few multilingual materials are available online. New technologies for facilitating document sharing and machine translation may improve the present landscape.

The Use of Applications in Distance Education Specialization Course as a Support Tool for Students Living in Remote Areas Without Internet

The world is experiencing the popularization of mobile devices. This was made possible by the increasing technological advances and the advent of the Internet as a communication and information tool. These facts demonstrate that the development of applications compatible with such devices is an effective way to provide content to diverse audiences. In the educational field, these devices can be seen as technological support artifacts for distance education, serving as strategy for continuous and permanent education for health professionals. The Open University of Brazilian National Health System (UNA-SUS) offers distance learning courses, including specializating on free access. In order to increase the public reach, UNA-SUS developed mobile applications as supporting material for students. These applications can be accessed in offline mode, increasing the accessibility and therefore, improving the efficiency of the material. The 28 applications developed with responsive online books format currently reached the milestone of over 6,000 downloads. This number shows the positive acceptance of the format used, accentuated by the ease of having material downloaded from the device, not requiring the user to be connected to access content.

Bioinformatics education--perspectives and challenges out of Africa

The discipline of bioinformatics has developed rapidly since the complete sequencing of the first genomes in the 1990s. The development of many high-throughput techniques during the last decades has ensured that bioinformatics has grown into a discipline that overlaps with, and is required for, the modern practice of virtually every field in the life sciences. This has placed a scientific premium on the availability of skilled bioinformaticians, a qualification that is extremely scarce on the African continent. The reasons for this are numerous, although the absence of a skilled bioinformatician at academic institutions to initiate a training process and build sustained capacity seems to be a common African shortcoming. This dearth of bioinformatics expertise has had a knock-on effect on the establishment of many modern high-throughput projects at African institutes, including the comprehensive and systematic analysis of genomes from African populations, which are among the most genetically diverse anywhere on the planet. Recent funding initiatives from the National Institutes of Health and the Wellcome Trust are aimed at ameliorating this shortcoming. In this paper, we discuss the problems that have limited the establishment of the bioinformatics field in Africa, as well as propose specific actions that will help with the education and training of bioinformaticians on the continent. This is an absolute requirement in anticipation of a boom in high-throughput approaches to human health issues unique to data from African populations.

[Evaluation of the Andalusia Public Health System hospital websites in the period 2010-2012]

OBJECTIVES

Evaluate the quality, accessibility and presence of Web 2.0 tools in the Andalusia Public Health System hospitals websites

METHODS

Observational, descriptive study carried out between 2010 and 2012. The variables analyzed were: quality, accessibility and innovation. The quality was evaluated using a Bermudez-Tamayo questionnaire. Accessibility was measured using the Web Accessibility Test (TAW) tool. Web 2.0 tools were identified by direct observation.

RESULTS

A total of 31 of the 45 hospitals (68.9%) had a website in the year 2010, increasing to 34 (75.5%) in 2012. The average score+standard deviation (SD) of the Bermudez-Tamayo quality questionnaire was 11.1+3.8 points in 2010, and 12.3+3.9 points in 2012, observing a statistically significant difference of 0.25 being observed between the means (P=.007), 95% CI; 0.00 to 0.50) In the accessibility evaluation only 7 websites (n=31) in 2010, and 10 (n=34) in 2012, fulfilled the legal criteria for accessibility. The use of Web 2.0 tools has increased throughout the study. In 2010, 19.4% (n=6) of the hospital websites had this type of tool, in comparison to 58.8% (n=20) in 2012.

CONCLUSIONS

In general, the quality of the websites studied is good. However, current legislation regarding accessibility is not fulfilled and must be revised and adapted to the current legal rules. There is an incipient use of Web 2.0 resources as education and communication strategies with regard to health.

An exploratory study into the effect of time-restricted internet access on face-validity, construct validity and reliability of postgraduate knowledge progress testing

BACKGROUND

Yearly formative knowledge testing (also known as progress testing) was shown to have a limited construct-validity and reliability in postgraduate medical education. One way to improve construct-validity and reliability is to improve the authenticity of a test. As easily accessible internet has become inseparably linked to daily clinical practice, we hypothesized that allowing internet access for a limited amount of time during the progress test would improve the perception of authenticity (face-validity) of the test, which would in turn improve the construct-validity and reliability of postgraduate progress testing.

METHODS

Postgraduate trainees taking the yearly knowledge progress test were asked to participate in a study where they could access the internet for 30 minutes at the end of a traditional pen and paper test. Before and after the test they were asked to complete a short questionnaire regarding the face-validity of the test.

RESULTS

Mean test scores increased significantly for all training years. Trainees indicated that the face-validity of the test improved with internet access and that they would like to continue to have internet access during future testing. Internet access did not improve the construct-validity or reliability of the test.

CONCLUSION

Improving the face-validity of postgraduate progress testing, by adding the possibility to search the internet for a limited amount of time, positively influences test performance and face-validity. However, it did not change the reliability or the construct-validity of the test.

Computer literacy and E-learning perception in Cameroon: the case of Yaounde Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

BACKGROUND

Health science education faces numerous challenges: assimilation of knowledge, management of increasing numbers of learners or changes in educational models and methodologies. With the emergence of e-learning, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and Internet to improve teaching and learning in health science training institutions has become a crucial issue for low and middle income countries, including sub-Saharan Africa. In this perspective, the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (FMBS) of Yaoundé has played a pioneering role in Cameroon in making significant efforts to improve students' and lecturers' access to computers and to Internet on its campus.The objective is to investigate how computer literacy and the perception towards e-learning and its potential could contribute to the learning and teaching process within the FMBS academic community.

METHOD

A cross-sectional survey was carried out among students, residents and lecturers. The data was gathered through a written questionnaire distributed at FMBS campus and analysed with routine statistical software.

RESULTS

307 participants answered the questionnaire: 218 students, 57 residents and 32 lecturers. Results show that most students, residents and lecturers have access to computers and Internet, although students' access is mainly at home for computers and at cyber cafés for Internet. Most of the participants have a fairly good mastery of ICT. However, some basic rules of good practices concerning the use of ICT in the health domain were still not well known. Google is the most frequently used engine to retrieve health literature for all participants; only 7% of students and 16% of residents have heard about Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).The potential of e-learning in the improvement of teaching and learning still remains insufficiently exploited. About two thirds of the students are not familiar with the concept of e-leaning. 84% of students and 58% of residents had never had access to e-learning resources. However, most of the participants perceive the potential of e-learning for learning and teaching, and are in favour of its development at the FMBS.

CONCLUSION

The strong interest revealed by the study participants to adopt and follow-up the development of e-learning, opens new perspectives to a faculty like the FMBS, located in a country with limited resources. However, the success of its development will depend on different factors: the definition of an e-learning strategy, the implementation of concrete measures and the adoption of a more active and participative pedagogy.

Closing the gap: eliminating health care disparities among Latinos with diabetes using health information technology tools and patient navigators

Latinos have higher rates of diabetes and diabetes-related complications compared to non-Latinos. Clinical diabetes self-management tools that rely on innovative health information technology (HIT) may not be widely used by Latinos, particularly those that have low literacy or numeracy, low income, and/or limited English proficiency. Prior work has shown that tailored diabetes self-management educational interventions are feasible and effective in improving diabetes knowledge and physiological measures among Latinos, especially those interventions that utilize tailored coaching and navigator programs. In this article, we discuss the role of HIT for diabetes management in Latinos and describe a novel "eNavigator" role that we are developing to increase HIT adoption and thereby reduce health care disparities.

Talking about STD/HIV prevention: a look at communication online

Little is known about the quality and usability of online health information. This analysis evaluated STD prevention websites' content quality and usability. Thirty-six sites were analyzed to determine their adherence to established sexual health guidelines and their accessibility, usability, credibility and currency. The objective of this study was to determine what communication skills are available to teenagers through STD prevention websites. Only two (6%) addressed safe sex negotiation; seven (19%) addressed basic communication skills; and slightly more than half (53%) addressed at least one sexual decision-making message. Most sites displayed consistent template design and two-thirds had working hyperlinks. But few (19%) of the sites offered a site map, while only one-third (36%) provided an internal search engine. These results indicate that health educators need to include tips on how to negotiate safe sex and improve interactive design features when creating STD websites for teenagers.

Bridging the gaps between research, policy and practice in low- and middle-income countries: a survey of health care providers

BACKGROUND

Gaps continue to exist between research-based evidence and clinical practice. We surveyed health care providers in 10 low- and middle-income countries about their use of research-based evidence and examined factors that may facilitate or impede such use.

METHODS

We surveyed 1499 health care providers practising in one of four areas relevant to the Millennium Development Goals (prevention of malaria, care of women seeking contraception, care of children with diarrhea and care of patients with tuberculosis) in each of China, Ghana, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mexico, Pakistan, Senegal and Tanzania.

RESULTS

The proportion of respondents who reported that research was likely to change their clinical practice if performed and published in their own country (84.6% and 86.0% respectively) was higher than the proportion who reported the same about research and publications from their region (66.4% and 63.1%) or from high-income countries (55.8% and 55.5%). Respondents who were most likely to report that the use of research-based evidence led to changes in their practice included those who reported using clinical practice guidelines in paper format (odds ratio [OR] 1.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-2.28), using scientific journals from their own country in paper format (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.26-2.28), viewing the quality of research performed in their country as above average or excellent (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.16-3.22); trusting systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.08-2.35); and having easy access to the Internet (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.19-3.02).

INTERPRETATION

Locally conducted or published research has played an important role in changing the professional practice of health care providers surveyed in low- and middle-income countries. Increased investments in local research, or at least in locally adapted publications of research-based evidence from other settings, are therefore needed. Although access to the Internet was viewed as a significant factor in whether research-based evidence led to concrete changes in practice, few respondents reported having easy access to the Internet. Therefore, efforts to improve Internet access in clinical settings need to be accelerated.

Personalized medicine: selected web resources

Information about personalized medicine abounds, yet it is difficult to comprehensively search for information on this topic due to the broadness of the term “personalized medicine, ” the variety of terms that are used to describe this concept, the vast amount of pertinent journal articles and Web sites, and the fast pace of developments in this field, A selected list of Web sites is provided as a starting place for information about concepts, terminology, projects, databases, tools, and stakeholders related to personalized medicine.

The SWAN biomedical discourse ontology

Developing cures for highly complex diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders, requires extensive interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange of biomedical information in context. Our ability to exchange such information across sub-specialties today is limited by the current scientific knowledge ecosystem's inability to properly contextualize and integrate data and discourse in machine-interpretable form. This inherently limits the productivity of research and the progress toward cures for devastating diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. SWAN (Semantic Web Applications in Neuromedicine) is an interdisciplinary project to develop a practical, common, semantically structured, framework for biomedical discourse initially applied, but not limited, to significant problems in Alzheimer Disease (AD) research. The SWAN ontology has been developed in the context of building a series of applications for biomedical researchers, as well as in extensive discussions and collaborations with the larger bio-ontologies community. In this paper, we present and discuss the SWAN ontology of biomedical discourse. We ground its development theoretically, present its design approach, explain its main classes and their application, and show its relationship to other ongoing activities in biomedicine and bio-ontologies.

For richer for poorer

Five years ago, the world's biggest publishing houses committed themselves to letting researchers in developing countries have free access to the content of their journals. Beset by technical problems and language difficulties, is HINARI succeeding in what it set out to do? Hannah Brown reports

Computer and Internet Access for Long-Term Care Residents: Perceived Benefits and Barriers

In this study, the authors examined residents' computer and Internet access, as well as benefits and barriers to access in nursing homes. Administrators of 64 nursing homes in a national chain completed surveys. Fourteen percent of the nursing homes provided computers for residents to use, and 11% had Internet access. Some residents owned personal computers in their rooms. Administrators perceived the benefits of computer and Internet use for residents as facilitating direct communication with family and providing mental exercise, education, and enjoyment. Perceived barriers included cost and space for computer equipment and residents' cognitive and physical impairments. Implications of residents' computer activities were discussed for nursing care. Further research is warranted to examine therapeutic effects of computerized activities and their cost effectiveness.

E-health: determinants, opportunities, challenges and the way forward for countries in the WHO African Region

BACKGROUND

The implementation of the 58th World Health Assembly resolution on e-health will pose a major challenge for the Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region due to lack of information and communications technology (ICT) and mass Internet connectivity, compounded by a paucity of ICT-related knowledge and skills. The key objectives of this article are to: (i) explore the key determinants of personal computers (PCs), telephone mainline and cellular and Internet penetration/connectivity in the African Region; and (ii) to propose actions needed to create an enabling environment for e-health services growth and utilization in the Region.

METHODS

The effects of school enrolment, per capita income and governance variables on the number of PCs, telephone mainlines, cellular phone subscribers and Internet users were estimated using a double-log regression model and cross-sectional data on various Member States in the African Region. The analysis was based on 45 of the 46 countries that comprise the Region. The data were obtained from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) sources.

RESULTS

There were a number of main findings: (i) the adult literacy and total number of Internet users had a statistically significant (at 5% level in a t-distribution test) positive effect on the number of PCs in a country; (ii) the combined school enrolment rate and per capita income had a statistically significant direct effect on the number of telephone mainlines and cellular telephone subscribers; (iii) the regulatory quality had statistically significant negative effect on the number of telephone mainlines; (iv) similarly, the combined school enrolment ratio and the number of telephone mainlines had a statistically significant positive relationship with Internet usage; and (v) there were major inequalities in ICT connectivity between upper-middle, lower-middle and low income countries in the Region. By focusing on the adoption of specific technologies we attempted to interpret correlates in terms of relationships instead of absolute "causals".

CONCLUSION

In order to improve access to health care, especially for the majority of Africans living in remote rural areas, there is need to boost the availability and utilization of e-health services. Thus, universal access to e-health ought to be a vision for all countries in the African Region. Each country ought to develop a road map in a strategic e-health plan that will, over time, enable its citizens to realize that vision.

Health information in Italian public health websites: moving from inaccessibility to accessibility

AIMS

In January 2004, the Italian government passed new legislation designed to give people with disabilities access to online services. Starting from the new legislation requirements, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether Italian Local Health Authorities websites are accessible to users with different abilities.

METHODS

One hundred and seventy websites were analysed evaluating their compliance to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Priority 1 guidelines via a combination of appropriate accessibility testing methods. This review was carried out twice: the first time it took place between the end of 2003 and May-June 2004. The same survey was repeated again in December 2004, after the issuing of the draft of the Implementation Regulations for The Stanca Law in July 2004. In this second survey, all the websites analysed before were checked again to establish if some measures to make those sites accessible were taken.

RESULTS

Seventy-six per cent of the analysed websites fail to satisfy the most basic W3C requirements, but Italian Local Health Authorities websites are likely to present significant improvements to access for some disabled user groups: the number of accessible websites increased consistently between the first and the second review.

CONCLUSIONS

It seems that awareness of web accessibility issues is increasing among developers of health information websites because of law enforcement. Recommendations for future research and development are offered.

Internet Accessibility and Usage among Urban Adolescents in Southern California: Implications for Web-Based Health Research

The World Wide Web (WWW) poses a distinct capability to offer interventions tailored to the individual's characteristics. To fine tune the tailoring process, studies are needed to explore how Internet accessibility and usage are related to demographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and other health related characteristics. This study was based on a cross-sectional survey conducted on 2373 7th grade students of various ethnic groups in Southern California. Measures of Internet use included Internet use at school or at home, Email use, chat-room use, and Internet favoring. Logistic regressions were conducted to assess the associations between Internet uses with selected demographic, psychosocial, behavioral variables and self-reported health statuses. The proportion of students who could access the Internet at school or home was 90% and 40%, separately. Nearly all (99%) of the respondents could access the Internet either at school or at home. Higher SES and Asian ethnicity were associated with higher internet use. Among those who could access the Internet and after adjusting for the selected demographic and psychosocial variables, depression was positively related with chat-room use and using the Internet longer than 1 hour per day at home, and hostility was positively related with Internet favoring (All ORs = 1.2 for +1 STD, p < 0.05). Less parental monitoring and more unsupervised time were positively related to email use, chat-room use, and at home Internet use (ORs for +1 STD ranged from 1.2 to 2.0, all p < 0.05), but not related to at school Internet use. Substance use was positively related to email use, chat-room use, and at home Internet use (OR for "used" vs. "not used" ranged from 1.2 to 4.0, p < 0.05). Self-reported health problems were associated with higher levels of Internet use at home but lower levels of Internet use at school. More physical activity was related to more email use (OR = 1.3 for +1 STD), chat room use (OR = 1.2 for +1 STD), and at school ever Internet use (OR = 1.2 for +1 STD, all p < 0.05). Body mass index was not related to any of the Internet use-related measures. In this ethnically diverse sample of Southern California 7(th) grade students, 99% could access the Internet at school and/or at home. This suggests that the Internet is already a potential venue for large scale health communication studies. Adolescents with more psychosocial risk factors or detrimental health behaviors were more likely to use the Internet. Therefore, if used properly, Internet interventions could effectively address the high risk populations. Additional research is needed to gain a more complete understanding of the positive and negative consequences of Internet use among adolescents.

A Four-Country Investigation of Factors Facilitating Student Internet Use

Education and national culture may influence Internet use. The present study explored factors that might facilitate college students' use of the Internet across samples in four countries: India, Mauritius, Reunion Island (an overseas Department of France), and the United States. Questionnaire data was collected on students' extent and frequency of Internet use. Also, structured items asked about the factors that would help them to use the Internet more. Data was analyzed using dummy-coded multiple regression so as to compare responses across the country groups. The U.S. sample was coded as the reference group so that the regression coefficients in the equation provided a comparison between the U.S. sample and each other country represented. Further country comparisons were made using t-tests for differences between the regression coefficients. Results suggested that there was more Internet use in the U.S. sample compared to the others. The Non-Western samples also reported greater desire for Internet access and non-English web sites. Training on how to use the Internet and course requirements for Internet use were reported as helpful by the India and Mauritius groups to a greater extent than by those in Reunion and the United States. Implications of the present exploratory results are discussed for applications of theoretical models across cultures.

Digital reference service: trends in academic health science libraries

Two years after the initial 2002 study, a greater number of academic health science libraries are offering digital reference chat services, and this number appears poised to grow in the coming years. This 2004 follow-up study found that 36 (27%) of the academic health science libraries examined provide digital chat reference services; this was an approximately 6% increase over the 25 libraries (21%) located in 2002. Trends in digital reference services in academic health science libraries were derived from the exploration of academic health science library Web sites and from digital correspondence with academic health science library personnel using e-mail and chat. This article presents an overview of the current state of digital reference service in academic health science libraries.

What do we mean by Internet access? A framework for health researchers

Much is written about Internet access, Web access, Web site accessibility, and access to online health information. The term access has, however, a variety of meanings to authors in different contexts when applied to the Internet, the Web, and interactive health communication. We have summarized those varied uses and definitions and consolidated them into a framework that defines Internet and Web access issues for health researchers. We group issues into two categories: connectivity and human interface. Our focus is to conceptualize access as a multicomponent issue that can either reduce or enhance the public health utility of electronic communications.

HINARI: bridging the global information divide

The unequal distribution of health care is being addressed by an electronic initiative that makes medical journals available free of charge to health workers in developing countries

Digital bridges need concrete foundations: lessons from the Health InterNetwork India

The World Health Organization's Health InterNetwork pilot project has shown that national and international partnerships can use information and communication technologies to strengthen the public health system and bridge the digital divide in health

The great technological divide

Whereas some hospitals and medical schools are introducing telemedicine networks and computer assisted learning, health clinics elsewhere do not even have the facilities to carry out a caesarean section. Ganapati Mudur sees a digital divide opening up in South Asia

The International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations

The Alliance is an active participant in the support of people living with ALS/MND throughout the world. In partnership with the many others who are part of the fight against ALS/MND, the aim of the Alliance is to share the expertise, knowledge and skills of ALS/MND Associations. For more complete information on The Alliance please visit our web site at alliance@alsmndalliance.org. If you would like assistance in establishing an ALS/MND patient care organization where one currently does not exist, contact the Alliance Secretariat at alliance@alsmndalliance.org and request a new organization pack. If you would like to contribute in some other way, contact the Secretariat and they will refer you to the most appropriate member of the Board of Directors. Zöe Tebbutt--Secretariat, PO Box 246 Northampton NN1 2PR, UK, Tel: +44 1604 611 821, Fax: +44 1604 611 852, E-mail: alliance@alsmndalliance.org, Internet: www.alsmndalliance.org. The Alliance Annual Meeting is the most important meeting of patient care organizations in the world. In 2003 it will be held in Milan, Italy, on November 14 and 15, followed by the International Symposium, November 17-19. Observers are welcome and encouraged.

Closing the digital divide in HIV/AIDS care: development of a theory-based intervention to increase Internet access

Advances in information technology are revolutionizing medical patient education and the Internet is becoming a major source of information for people with chronic medical conditions, including HIV/AIDS. However, many AIDS patients do not have equal access to the Internet and are therefore at an information disadvantage, particularly minorities, persons of low-income levels and individuals with limited education. This paper describes the development and pilot testing of a workshop-style intervention designed to close the digital divide in AIDS care. Grounded in the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model of health behaviour change, we developed an intervention for persons with no prior history of using the Internet. The intervention included instruction in using hardware and search engines, motivational enhancement to increase interest and perceived relevance of the Internet, and skills for critically evaluating and using health information accessed via the Internet. Participants were also introduced to communication and support functions of the Internet including e-mail, newsgroups and chat groups. Pilot testing demonstrated feasibility, acceptability and promise for closing the digital divide in HIV/AIDS care using a relatively brief and intensive theory-based intervention that could be implemented in community settings.

Intranet usage and potential in acute care hospitals in the United States: survey-2000

This paper provides the results of the Survey-2000 measuring Intranet and its potential in health care. The survey measured the levels of Internet and Intranet existence and usage in acute care hospitals. Business-to-business electronic commerce and electronic commerce for customers were measured. Since the Intranet was not studied in survey-1997, no comparisons could be made. Therefore the results were presented and discussed. The Intranet data were compared with the Internet data and statistically significant differences were presented and analyzed. This information will assist hospitals to plan Internet and Intranet technology. This is the third of three articles based upon the results of the Survey-2000. Readers are referred to prior articles by the author, which discusses the survey design and provides a tutorial on technology transfer in acute care hospitals.(1) The first article based upon the survey results discusses technology transfer, system design approaches, user involvement, and decision-making purposes. (2) The second article based upon the survey results discusses distribution of Internet usage and rating of Internet usage applied to specific applications. Homepages, advertising, and electronic commerce are discussed from an Internet perspective.

Internet and technology transfer in acute care hospitals in the United States: survey-2000

This paper provides the results of the survey-2000 measuring technology transfer and, specifically, Internet usage. The purpose of the survey was to measure the levels of Internet and Intranet existence and usage in acute care hospitals. The depth of the survey includes e-commerce for both business-to-business and customers. These results are compared with responses to the same questions in survey-1997. Changes in response are noted and discussed. This information will provide benchmarks for hospitals to plan their network technology position and to set goals. This is the third of three articles based upon the results of the survey-2000. Readers are referred to prior articles by the author, which discuss the survey design and provide a tutorial on technology transfer in acute care hospitals. (1) Thefirst article based upon the survey results discusses technology transfer, system design approaches, user involvement, and decision-making purposes. (2)