@Article{info:doi/10.2196/jmir.4.2.e11,
author="Schwitzer, Gary",
title="A Review of Features in Internet Consumer Health Decision-support Tools",
journal="J Med Internet Res",
year="2002",
month="Nov",
day="22",
volume="4",
number="2",
pages="e11",
keywords="decision making; informatics; Internet; multimedia; social support; treatment outcome; prognosis",
abstract="Background: Over the past decade, health care consumers have begun to benefit from new Web-based communications tools to guide decision making on treatments and tests. Using today's online tools, consumers who have Internet connections can: watch and listen to videos of physicians; watch and hear the stories of other consumers who have faced the same decisions; join an online social support network; receive estimates of their own chances of experiencing various outcomes; and do it all at home. Objective: To review currently-available Internet consumer health decision-support tools. Methods: Five Web sites offering consumer health decision-support tools are analyzed for their use of 4 key Web-enabled features: the presentation of outcomes probability data tailored to the individual user; the use of videotaped patient interviews in the final product to convey the experiences of people who have faced similar diagnoses in the past; the ability to interact with others in a social support network; and the accessibility of the tool to any health care consumers with an Internet connection. Results: None of the 5 Web sites delivers all 4 target features to all Web users. The reasons for these variations in the use of key Web functionality --- features that make the Web distinctive --- are not immediately clear. Conclusions: Consumers trying to make health care decisions may benefit from current Web-based decision-support tools. But, variations in Web developers' use of 4 key Web-enabled features leaves the online decision-support experience less than what it could be. Key research questions are identified that could help in the development of new hybrid patient decision-support tools. ",
issn="1438-8871",
doi="10.2196/jmir.4.2.e11",
url="http://www.jmir.org/2002/2/e11/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.4.2.e11",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12554558"
}