Premium
Information‐seeking behaviour and use of the Internet by French general practitioners: a qualitative study
Author(s) -
Boissin Florence Gonod
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
health information and libraries journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.779
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1471-1842
pISSN - 1471-1834
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2005.00573.x
Subject(s) - global positioning system , the internet , incentive , government (linguistics) , work (physics) , qualitative research , computer science , information seeking , medical information , internet privacy , world wide web , knowledge management , public relations , data science , sociology , political science , information retrieval , engineering , social science , mechanical engineering , telecommunications , linguistics , philosophy , economics , microeconomics
Background: Numerous studies deal with the use of computers and the Internet in the health sector. Most of these studies show an increase in the use of the new technologies in searching for medical information—particularly by patients—but these uses remain very heterogeneous and depend on the studies. Aims: The aim of this work was to consider the use of computers by French general practitioners (GPs) and to analyse the impact that computerization could have on their information‐seeking behaviour. Methods: The nature of the approach used is qualitative using interviews. Results: Most of the GPs interviewed are equipped with a computer. The policies of the government were supposed to give financial incentives for GPs to start using computers for the management of administrative procedures, but many physicians do not know how to use the new tools properly. Their computers are, in most cases, underused for searching for medical information. Most of the time, the Internet sources are thought to be unreliable. Conclusion: This study sheds light on the use of computers and the preferences of GPs in searching for medical information.