Information needs of the rural physician: a descriptive study.

The study was designed to describe the information needs and the information-seeking behavior of rural physicians. Data were collected from twelve rural physicians in Central Florida through face-to-face interviews and observation. From a review of 144 patient charts, 48 produced unique, factual patient care questions. Seventy-five percent of the questions were on treatment, 14.7% on diagnosis, 8.3% on etiology, and 2.1% on the psychological aspects of disease. All physicians in the survey relied on colleagues; eleven attended medical meetings; nine subscribed to medical journals, and nine owned medical textbooks. Of the physicians with access to a hospital library, two used the library frequently while ten seldom used the library. Lack of time due to heavy workloads was an obstacle to systematic information retrieval. Rural physicians need immediate access to high-quality, synthesized answers to specific patient care questions at the time of patient contact. Information must be concise and up-to-date, although not necessarily state-of-the-art. A database composed of selected textbooks with integrated keyword access would meet the criteria. In addition, a computerized expert system focused on rural physicians' information needs is a possible remedy for the existing problem.