Consumer health information websites in Taiwan.

Developers of consumer health information (CHI) websites and pages in Taiwan have included: 1) individuals; 2) general hospitals; 3) disease-oriented associations; 4) government health administrative agencies; and 5) commercial corporations. General hospitals have developed the largest number of sites, but the quality of these sites differs widely. The unprecedented impact of health-oriented websites on medical care and the health of the public in general necessitates the establishment of credible instruments for the evaluation and rating of the quality of such websites and pages. In this paper, we describe the current status of CHI websites and pages in Taiwan. Suggestions for improving the content of CHI websites and pages are also proposed.