Information Use in Improving Professional Competencies among the Medical Practitioners in Chennai City: A Study

Abstract

Information access and use pattern is a major topic in LIS research. Research on information seeking and use by professionals has been applied to a variety of disciplines such as law, education, engineering, and accountancy. The lack of information and knowledge in health care centres could lead to serious problems for patients, such as physical disability, financial loss and in the worse case death. Therefore, an intensive reliance on information and communication technology (ICT) and establishing information systems (IS) that enable access, use and communicate information within the health care sector is essential to avoid such problems. it is assumed that building and developing a health information system should be preceded by an accurate understanding of the information seeking behaviour and the information needs which motivate the beneficiaries to seek information. Bearing in mind the importance of health information systems in satisfying the health professionals’ information needs and the central role of the doctors in the health care services, this study investigates the information needs and the information seeking behaviour of a sample of doctors working in Chennai city. The findings of the study will lead to the areas in which the information dissemination is lagging behind and helps to improve those areas for maximizing the use of pooled information.