Development of a Web-based Emergency Medical Information Service Program for Health Promotion

Park, Hyeoun Ae; Cho, In Sook; Min, Song Tae; Kim, Ji Hyung

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Demand for emergency medical information is high according to the health information use, utilization and demand survey for on the Internet. In spite of high demand for emergency information service, emergency information service on-line and off-line are very limited. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a website providing emergency medical information and emergency medical resources information by linking emergency medicine where timely information is required with the Internet technology for health promotion of the public.
OBJECTIVE
This study is conducted to develop and evaluate a Web site to provide information on emergency medicine and resources for health promotion.
METHODS
To identify and specify users' requirements for the emergency medicine related information, online survey was performed for 209 Internet users who visited the Healthguide. Based on this survey results, we developed content for emergency medical information service: cause, risk factors, prevention, treatment, facilities, laws and rules, policy and statistics of emergency medicine. To evaluate the web site developed in this study, twenty health and nursing informatics experts were recruited and asked to rate using an evaluation tool.
RESULTS
This content was integrated into the healthy life (http://healthguide.kihasa.re.kr/health_life/emergency/pages/index.html), which is a service component of the Healthguide. This approach was expected to increase accessibility and usability of implemented services. The rating score of the website was fairly high with mean 3.9(SD 0.6) out of 5.0. According to each evaluation criteria, purpose of the site, easiness of use, relevancy, and reliability were scored 4.1-4.2 and authority and accuracy 3.8-3.9 and currency 3.5-3.7. This evaluation results will be fed back to the Healthguide for operation, maintenance, and upgrade in the future.