The Quality of Infectious Disease Hospital Websites in Poland in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Karol Król and Dariusz Zdonek
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Karol Król: Department of Land Management and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Land Surveying, University of Agriculture in Kraków, 253c Balicka Street, 30-149 Kraków, Poland
Dariusz Zdonek: Department of Economics and Informatics, Faculty of Organization and Management, Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, 2A AkademickaStreet, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: The quality of healthcare service websites gains particular importance in the time of the pandemic, asthe popularity of electronic services grows. This applies to infectious disease hospitals as well, often on the front line of the effort against COVID-19. The paper aims to assess the quality of infectious disease hospital websites in Poland in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research covered 91 websites. The first stage was an analysis of selected technical attributes of the websites (including website performance, SEO quality, website availability, and mobile-friendliness) with selected online tools, such as Google PageSpeed Insights, Blink Audit Tool, Backlink Checker, andwebsite accessibility evaluation tool (WAVE). The data were then analyzed with statistical methods. The next step was to analyze the content of the websites. The research has shown that most of the websites were of satisfactory quality, apart from those that were not mobile-ready. The following keywords were found most often on the hospital websites: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, smear, specialist care clinic, isolation, telephone consultations, sample collection center, support, coronavirus, recommendations, patient registration, signs of disease. The research suggests that the quality of infectious disease hospital websites in Poland is significantly diversified in search engine optimization, mobile-friendliness, and needs of people at risk of digital exclusion.

Keywords: website quality; website evaluation; online health information; content quality; covid-19 pandemic; mobile friendliness; web accessibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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