In its heyday, the telegraph transmitted information that saved lives. Today, the Internet has launched a revolution in health care by vastly expanding public access to medical information. Network technology promises to remake the practice of medicine. At the same time, the Internet poses challenges: can we protect the privacy of patients and still reap the benefits of advances in telemedicine?
From the era of the telegraph to the Internet, the National Library of Medicine has embraced and helped develop new communications technologies, leading the effort to provide professional and public access to biomedical knowledge and research.
