Evaluation of the structure of websites of educational hospitals of Fars province in 2016

Document Type : Articles

Authors

Abstract

Introduction: In the recent years, evaluation of websites has become one of the main organizational instruments for the relationship between provision of services for customers and beneficiaries. Despite the high costs for design and implementation of websites, less attention has been paid to evaluation of these websites’ function. This might be due to the lack of appropriate instruments and frameworks for evaluation of websites. In order to assess hospitals’ information, their websites have to be evaluated regarding webometric criteria so as to identify their strength and weaknesses. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the websites of educational hospitals of Fars province in 2016.Method: In this descriptive study, the subjects included all the 43 active websites of educational hospitals of Fars province; they were evaluated by three experts in health information technology. The study data were collected using a checklist whose validity had been confirmed in the previous studies. After all, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, SPSS 21 and Excel 2013 software, and the results were presented through tables.Results:The mean scores obtained from three evaluators showed that out of the 43 hospitals under investigation, 35 and 8 hospitals were ranked as good and moderate hospitals, respectively. In addition, the lowest score was related to interactive exchange of views (30.25%), while the highest scores were related to information objectivity (100%), information accuracy (100%), and non-textual views (100%).Conclusion: The overall quality level of most of the hospital was relatively acceptable. But it is necessary that the hospitals improve their websites based on information updatedness, coverage of special addressees, navigation, efficiency and interactive exchange of views. The improvement in the latter criterion will help in reducing the number of daily referrals to the hospitals.Keywords: Evaluation, website, Internet

References

  1. Mofidi M. The evaluation of the state websites of Mazandaran province. National Journal of New Media and Education. 2014;1(2):51.
  2. Ghalavand H, Eskrootchi R, Alibeyk M. The Importance of Health Website Assessment Criteria Based on the Opinions of Hospital Librarians. Director General. 2013;9(6).
  3. Turner AM, Petrochilos D, Nelson DE, Allen E, Liddy ED. Access and use of the Internet for health information seeking: a survey of local public health professionals in the northwest. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2009 Jan-Feb;15(1):67-9.
  4. MORADI GR, Ahmadi M, ZOHOUR A, EBADIFARD AF, Saberi M. Evaluation of Structure and Content of Websites of the Educational Hospitals in Iran–2007. 2007.
  5. Delone WH, McLean ER. The DeLone and McLean model of information systems success: a ten-year update. Journal of management information systems. 2003;19(4):9-30.
  6. Feindt S, Jeffcoate J, Chappell C. Small Business Economics. 2002;19(1):51-62.
  7. Ainscough TL. The Effect of Brand, Agent, and Price on Consumer Evaluation of Travel Services. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing. 2005;19(1):39-48.
  8. Maifredi G, Orizio G, Bressanelli M, Domenighini S, Gasparotti C, Perini E, et al. Italian hospitals on the web: a cross-sectional analysis of official websites. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2010;10:17.
  9. Manian A, Sohrabi urtachi B, Shadmehri N. Identify and prioritize factors in evaluating web based Document Analysis Research Papers. Management Research In Iran. 2014;18(1):224.
  10. Nadri K, Azizi A. Comparative study of hospital websites in Khuzestan province 2013. Ahwaz Jundishapur University of medical Science; 2016; Available from: http://behsan.ajums.ac.ir/webdocument/load.action?webdocument_code=1000&masterCode=33006691.
  11. Vara N, Zeraat kar N, Parto P. Assessment of English language publications, website rankings by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. National studies on librarianship and information organization. 2011;88(27):37.
  12. Mohamadesmaeil S, Oskouei MN. Interactivity, Changeability, and Non-Textual Content of Websites of Iranian Hospital Libraries. Director General. 2012;9(3).
  13. Hamdipour A. Assessment Study of Library Website of Iranian Universities of Medical Sciences and Suggestions for Improvement. Director General. 2011;8(2).
Health Management & Information Science
Volume 3, Issue 4 - Serial Number 4
19
October 2016
Pages 132-137

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics