Session: Using The Internet In Public Health: Opportunities and Cautions

5192.0: Wednesday, November 15, 2000: 2:30 PM-4:00 PM

Using The Internet In Public Health: Opportunities and Cautions - Part I

The purpose of this session is to disseminate information about the 1) benefits to public health organizations of making internet connections and 2) opportunities for public health organizations to make internet connections despite perceived barriers to doing so. Emerging trends in the health care industry are increasing the opportunities and challenges for internet use in the public health sector. Yet there is evidence that the neither the benefits of internet connection nor important opportunities to overcoming perceived barriers to making internet connections are fully understood by public health organizations. In this session, speakers tell how the internet can facilitate public health organizations' ability to serve their constituencies. They describe opportunities for overcoming resource and organizational constraints to accessing the internet for full range of public health functions. Community health information sharing--now feasible at a reasonable cost--is discussed. Using data standards to provide a common framework for exchanging information independent of software and hardware technology is explained. Developing privacy regulations to provide protections is highlighted as well

See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement.

Learning Objectives: Refer to the individual abstracts for learning objectives

Presider(s):

Stephanie Karsten, MA, CMC

Organizer(s):

Virginia Riehl

2:30 PM

Introductory Remarks

2:35 PM

Overcoming barriers to internet connection: The whys and hows of it!
Stephanie Karsten, MA, CMC, Virginia Riehl, Lynne Firester, Frances Johnson, Milton Corn, MD

3:05 PM

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initiatives to promote use of the Internet and protect privacy
Judy Whang