Studying the Information Behavior of Healthcare Professionals in a Greek Private Clinic Using Social Networks Models

Abstract

In modern western societies, healthcare professionals are facing an increased need for unimpeded information provision so as to acquire direct access to medical information. Adaptation to change and the ability to understand a vast number of information sources are two main skills that they need to develop, so as to effectively utilize the variety of available information and offer high quality healthcare services. The access of healthcare professionals to updated, valid and reliable information is an important issue within modern societies, where new information technologies and the internet have assumed a leading role. This paper aims to investigate and record the information needs and behavior of healthcare professionals working in a private clinic, something attempted for the first time in Greece. This study highlights the need to develop hospital libraries, information sources and new internet applications, able to support and improve the accessibility, effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare professionals working in Greek private clinics. Final results could be analysed considering social networks, where the importance of proposed factors maybe represented as a connected graph between them, which illustrating the social structure of the behave process.