Open your browser and say, "Ahhhhh." Anyone with an illness or injury, can now find more information about it than they ever dreamed possible on the Web. Users have been warned, however, that the quality of medical information online varies greatly. There are thousands of health-oriented sites already online and more opening every day. "Patients are becoming more like consumers, and doctors are becoming more like a service," said Susan Cossette, of Personal MD (www.personalmd. com). "The more information we have, the more empowered we become and the better able we are to control our health and well-being. "
Another key reason is that the health-care business is big, really big. Americans last year spent more than $1 trillion on health products and services. If even a fraction of that spending moved online, it might surpass book and CD sales and Internet stock trading combined.
But experts also warn that not all health websites are worthwhile. Richard Cleland of the US Federal Trade Commission's bureau of consumer protection said the potential for fraud and medical quackery on the Internet is enormous.
"There's a lot of beneficial and helpful information on the Web. The trick is sorting it out, deciding what's good and what's bad," he said. "Unfortunately, there's no shortcut to doing that."
During a recent survey of Web sites, called Operation Cure. All, the FTC found about 800 sites making claims about prospective cures or treatments for serious diseases. "To go to a site and decide that there's an ingredient out there that cures arthritis, and then buy it on the spot, is nothing less than foolish," Cleland said.
Another recent study, at the University of Michigan, found dubious information online. The study looked at a random sample of 400 websites covering Ewing's sarcoma, a rare and often fatal form of malignant bone cancer.
Researchers found that four in 10 pages either didn't use peer-reviewed information from medical journals or didn't list the source of their information. Some six per cent of the pages reviewed had inaccurate information about the disease. Users are advised to:
Look for references to the source and date of the information.
Assess the reputation and credibility of the site.
Cross-check information from multiple sources.
Look for sites operated by or endorsed by major associations that deal with a specific disease.
Beware of sites claiming medical breakthroughs and miracle cures.
Much of the development of health information online has been taking place on health megasites, sometimes called health portals. Among the leading ones are: www.intellihealth.com
www.drkoop.com
www.onhealth.com
www.healtheon.com
www.mayoclinic.edu
These sites typically offer health news as well as extensive information on a wide range of diseases, injuries and medical conditions. All are busily engaged in trying to establish themselves as the premier source for credible health information on-line.
"It's unprecedented the amount of health-care information you can get. This has never been available to consumers before," said Bob Pringle, president of Intelihealth, a joint venture of Aetna US Healthcare and Johns Hopkins University and Health System.
Intelihealth is already drawing more than 750,000 visitors a month and is reaching many more through distribution partnerships with America Online, AltaVista, Discovery Channel and others.
As the competition among health mega-sites intensifies, even more information and new services, such as online consultations, are likely to appear.