Taiwan's first Web site boasting online health and medical services opened yesterday, paving the way for a better information flow between hospitals and their patients. Such sites, however, do have their dangers.
While increasing health awareness and access to critical information -- such as allergies or medical problems -- sites like this have come under fire in the US and Australia for offering medical advice online.
According to reports, one Web site caused tragedy in Australia by wrongly diagnosing a woman with cancer. Without consulting a real physician, the misdiagnosed woman and her husband decided to end their lives together.
Reports of such occurrences -- while not as severe as the Australian example -- have surfaced in the US enough times for authorities to begin scrutinizing such Web sites and the possibility of holding them liable for misdiagnoses. The US medical establishment has already come out against online doctors, warning that an informed diagnosis simply cannot be made without hands-on medical tests.
But according to David Wang (汪俊宏), CEO of Chinesecare.com (健康與美) medical questions at his company's new site will always be answered by, "You should go see a doctor."
"The online advice we will give is for health and beauty only," he said. "For example, a list of exercises to help a person lose weight or low calorie food to eat."
He explained that the medical part of their Web site is the storage space for personal medical records that can be accessed only by the owner or with the owner's consent. He explained that each member would receive their own Web page on the site, and additional areas to keep track of basic medical and dental information.
The advantage of keeping one's medical records on an Internet site, he said, is fast and convenient access to the records anytime they are needed.
This kind of site has been developing for the past few years in a number of places as officials have worked to make safe -- and convenient -- havens for personal medical information. The idea is that with all records online, a person's trip to the hospital would be greatly simplified.
This kind of medical Web site would be helpful to a person injured while vacationing away from home, for example, as information on the site could alert hospital staff to any allergies or prior medical conditions.
According to Wang, keeping medical and dental records on the site could also give hospital staff information that would normally be collected through blood tests or x-rays, thus potentially reducing the amount of needle pricks in patients' arms as well as the cost of a typical hospital visit.
The company plans to use the site as a way to promote health and fitness, in addition to increasing awareness of diseases and making available the latest research.
According to Chinesecare.com executive director Luke Chang (
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