Preserver of past makes plans for future

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is well-known as a place of history. Now it's eyeing an Internet health information initiative for today's needs.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Aug. 12, 2002.

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia sees itself as more than a repository of history.

It wants to make history of its own.

The medical society plans to launch the Regional Community Health Information System to provide the public with health information via the Internet. The project would enable people in the greater Philadelphia region to get health material through computers at library branches and, perhaps, doctor's offices.

The information system is a key way the college is striving to be relevant to the public's health needs.

"We're trying to create some order out of the chaos that's on the Internet for health," said Thomas W. Langfitt, MD, president of the college.

The college likely would make health information available through a Web site, with the aid of the Free Library of Philadelphia, which has more than 518,000 cardholders and 55 branch locations. The library would provide access to the Internet through computers at its branches.

"It would give access to some of the poorest in Philadelphia and some of the people with the least amount of computer literacy," said Kevin Vaughan, COO of the library.

The initiative could include doctors' offices, with volunteers manning computers and guiding patients to credible information.

The cost is estimated at $600,000 to $700,000, Dr. Langfitt said. The college has applied for public and private sector grants to fund the system.

"It's not expensive. It's a virtual system," Dr. Langfitt said.

The college is doing a feasibility study on the project. "We hope to have everything in place by the end of 2003," Dr. Langfitt said. [...]