The Database of Individual Patients' Experience of illness (DIPEx) is a multimedia website and CD-ROM that links patients' experiences with evidence-based information about treatments and the illness itself and with a range of other resources that may be useful, including support groups and links to other websites. DIPEx aims to identify the questions that matter to people when they are ill and it has potential for informing patients, educating healthcare professionals, and providing a patient-centred perspective to researchers and those who manage health services.