Evidence-based retrieval in E-health

In this chapter we address the issue of standards for information retrieval to support decision making in e-health. Specifically, we consider the issue of evidence-based retrieval in the e-health domains of the consumer, healthcare practitioner, healthcare researcher, and genomics researcher. We present the results of a preliminary study to assess the current state of evidence-based retrieval in e-health. Within this study, we reviewed articles in e-health and telemedicine to determine the extent to which authors provide details of the information retrieval strategies used, as well as evidence of the effectiveness of those strategies. We also examined the extent to which the associated journals require authors of reviews to explicitly provide details of information retrieval strategies that they used, as well as reporting any evidence for the effectiveness of those strategies.