Internet Connectivity of State Health Departments

Abstract

A new era of public health is emerging, with the use of the Internet at the forefront. Improving the efficiency of information transfer through the use of new telecommunications tools, such as the Internet, will lead to advances in health worldwide. To describe the current status of Internet connectivity within the U.S. public health system, state health departments were surveyed by telephone. A total of 47 state health departments participated in the survey. The results indicate that 92 percent were connected to the Internet in some way; however, 74 percent of those connected had personnel restrictions on usage and/or limited access to the Internet. Only 6.4 percent of the states indicated that all of their local health departments were connected. The results of this survey reveal that despite the widespread use of the Internet, the public health system in the United States has limited connectivity with respect to the number of personnel who can access the Internet and the Internet services they are able to use. It is important for the future of public health to establish a network linking the public health departments in the United States.