The quality and characteristics of leading general hospitals' websites in China

This paper focuses on the evaluation of quality of hospital websites in China. Leading general hospitals' websites in China are increasingly used by the public, but research on the quality of these websites in China is few and far between. In this article, we conducted a cross-sectional descriptive infodemiology study to assess the quality and to describe the characteristics of these websites. Using a pre-defined objective criterion based on content, function, design, and management & usage, two well-trained reviewers independently reviewed and analyzed websites of 23 nationally prominent leading general hospitals of China from April to June 2009. Hospital election is on the basis of the best Chinese hospitals published by official and non-official sources combined with experts' experiences and the research purpose. Results show that websites of most hospitals showed a good performance in website content, showed a normal performance in website function and design, but showed a bad performance in website management & usage. As the public increasingly looks to hospital websites for information and services, leading general hospitals in China need to keep up with increasingly high standards and demands of health-care consumers.