This year will mark the fifth year anniversary of my white paper, "Do Healthcare Providers Need the Internet." It's been almost four years since I've made significant updates to its content, but a lot of what's discussed is still at issue. Some of what I projected became true. Some didn't.

If this is your first time reading through "Do Healthcare Providers Need the Internet" please be aware that you're reading something that I first started writing five years ago to be forward looking and progressive enough to remain relevant for at most two years. Consider this paper a historical look at where the Internet for healthcare interests was and where it was going before tech industry fanaticism overran all things Internet.

2001 saw the bottom drop out of the Internet industry, which must not be confused as proof that telehealth and telemedicine is a bust. We've had a taste of healthcare's information age so far, but it hasn't had its day yet. It's still coming.

I'm hoping to find the time to author an entirely new edition of Do Healthcare Providers Need the Internet this year. We've learned a great deal about how information technology can be used to enhance healthcare in the past few years. It's a good time to take that knowledge and craft a guide that will last another five years.

Thanks for reading. If you have any thoughts you'd like to share, please sign the guestbook.

Sheldon Chang