It's a couple of days past my targeted date to update "Do Healthcare Providers Need the Internet" and I regret to say that I've again drastically underestimated both the extent of the updates needed and the amount of free time that I have. Every year it gets harder and harder to adequately cover the healthcare Internet. This may be the last time I'm able to update this white paper in its current format.

My research into healthcare Internet issues have deepened in the year that has passed since I posted the most recent overhaul. This next version will keep to my original goal of providing a single best introduction to what the Internet is to modern healthcare and what it could mean in the future. This has never been and will not be a paper that shows you how to use the Internet as there are plenty of good books that teach new users how to sign onto mailing lists, use a web browser, or place a phone call over the Internet.

What you will find here in three to four months is a comprehensive introductory discussion about the "anatomy, physiology, and psychology" of the Internet as it pertains to medicine. It will be much like the current version, but with greater scope, more references, better layout, improved organization, and more images. To get a glimpse, please see the expanded preliminary table of contents for the coming update. If there is anything you would like to see covered, I welcome you to e-mail me at [email protected]. I welcome all comments and feedback.

Even after overhauling the original paper in the last major update and rewriting entire sections to make the information more concise, it has continued to grow in length. While I don't plan to limit my coverage simply to make this paper shorter and more user-friendly to casual readers, it will be segmented more than the current version to make it more friendly to browse.

Thanks to all who have supported my efforts with this paper. It has been great getting e-mail from people around the world. Please check back sometime in April 1999 to see a completely overhauled version of Do Healthcare Providers Need the Internet. In the meantime, for those of you who really want something new to read, Neoforma.com will be archiving some of the articles I wrote for them soon and I'll put a link to the page as soon as it's up.

Sheldon Chang