title: [Internet presence of surgical clinics in Germany. Current data and future prospects].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to obtain an overview of the use of the Internet by surgical departments in Germany as a presentation platform and information resource for their patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  After a randomizing a total of 1,760 surgical departments in Germany, 200 were chosen and asked about their Internet use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most of the questionnaires (81.5%) were received and analyzed; 32.5% of the German surgical departments are represented on the Internet; 81.4% of the clinics without a homepage are planning to have one in the future. The hospitals represent themselves on average on two HTML documents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Approximately a third of the German surgical departments currently give information over the Internet with a wide and heterogeneous spectrum. In the near future approx. 80% of the German surgical departments will have online presence. Therefore, the increasing demand for medical information by the patients will be fulfilled. The professionalism and effectiveness of the home-pages can be increased through registration with many search engines and the use of e-mail.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung für Chirurgie, Gemeinnütziges Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Filderklinik, Filderstadt. billroth3@doctors-online.de
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schenk
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mugomba
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dabidian
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mayr
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Glaser
mesh_terms: D005544:Forecasting; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000639:trends*; D020407:Internet / Q000639:trends*; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000639:trends*
vernacular_title: Internetpräsenz Chirurgischer Kliniken in Deutschland. Aktuelle Daten und Zukunftsausblick.