Use of the Internet by medical doctors in Switzerland

Abstract

In the practice of evidence-based medicine physicians need to sift through increasing quanti-ties of information. The Internet has been pro-posed as a possible tool to facilitate access to this information [1]. Investors spend vast resources on Internet-based “portals ” and databases serving this aim. The claimed advantages are: short transfer times, lower costs than paper-based dissemination, and on-demand, instant, worldwide availability. These features have simplified access to medical information for health care professionals and pa-tients at a speed, and in a volume, previously un-known. In recent years several information man-agement systems designed to meet the information needs of practising physicians have been imple