The advent of the Internet has had a significant
impact on the formation of an information-driven, rapid-paced
society. The number of Internet users reached 50 million
in only five years compared to 13 years for television
and 38 years for radio. Consumer expectation for access,
convenience, and speed has made the cyberspace superhighway
a medium for knowledge exchange and for e-commerce.
The Internet offers a wide variety of health services and
products to healthcare professionals as well as to the
public. Online pharmaceutical sales are predicted to reach
$20–25 billion over the next four years. This is
a dramatic increase when compared to the $1.9 billion in
1999. At the click of the mouse, medications can be ordered
and delivered conveniently to your door. Yet, consumer
discomfort with the security of information provided via
the Internet is growing, and recent incidents involving
disclosure of healthcare information serve to heighten this
concern.