Medicine on the Net!
Introduction
There are an estimated 15 to 20,000 medical Web sites today, with hundreds being added every month. Despite the wealth of information available, it is getting more difficult for Web users to discern what is real information and what is today's equivalent of snake oil.
In order to help patients focus on the correct way of searching the Internet, Michael Woo-Ming MD, MPH provides a clinical handout for patients to follow when they evaluate medical information on the Web. Dr. Woo-Ming is a board-certified San Diego family physician and has been a long-time advocate for patient education via the Internet.
Internet Search Rules
To help make sure you are getting the right health advice for you and your family, Dr. Woo-Ming has implemented ten rules from that original handout that you should follow when assessing the validity and accuracy of an eHealth site.
- The Health on the Net Insignia. Started in 1995, the Health on the Net Foundation (http://www.hon.ch/) was one of the first nonprofit agencies to try to "credential" what they deemed as quality medical Web sites. Although by no means perfect, it does a good job in attempting to assess "authoritative, trustworthy, Web-based medical information."
- Look out for hidden agendas. Pay particularly close attention to advertisement-sponsored sites, which present medical content in lieu of the product being advertised. For a general content site, there should be a medical disclaimer readily available differentiating the information being presented, and the advertising that is supported. A good way to check is to click on the "About Us" or "Sponsors" section to see who is funding the Web site.
- Recommendations from other users, health magazines, and other Web sites. With the increase in multimedia, more users are trading links to the best articles, audio, and video from their favorite medical information sites. To allow for a more democratic approach, some Web sites allow users to vote for their top sites. Starting your search from these sites can give you a good offering as to what's available online.
- Know the initials. It is important that any medical content be authored, meaning you should be able to find the writer of the content on that Web site. In addition, pay particular attention to who is writing the articles. Not only should the authors be properly identified, they should also have their qualifications readily available, as well as any references listed.
- Ask your doctor. This is probably the most important rule. In a recent survey by Cyberdialogue, 74 percent of online health users would trust the information from a Web site recommended by their physician. Ask your physician which medical Web sites he or she visits and what he or she considers reliable ones.
Latest Articles