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| Health |
Consumer Tips |
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Navigating Health Advice Online
January 28, 2004 ...view
Buying Prescription Drugs Online
Tips For Consumers
September 29, 2003 ...view
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Resources |
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The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)http://www.ahima.org/
AHIMA is an information-sharing organization comprised of 46,000 health information management professionals. AHIMA is concerned with the privacy and quality of personal health information available on the Internet. Working with national consumer advocate groups, AHIMA developed 39 fundamental principles of e-health as a model for better and safer health information management on the Web.
American Medical Association (AMA)http://www.amia.org/about/fabout.html
AMA is the nation's largest medical association. The AMA has, since 1999, developed a set of working guidelines for its own Web sites and for affiliates. The guidelines address the creation of editorial content; disclosure of advertising, and funding and sponsorship streams; protection of confidentiality; and reliability of e-commerce.
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)http://www.pfir.org/
AMIA, with more than 3,200 members worldwide, is the official U.S. representative organization to the International Medical Informatics Association. AMIA seeks to advance health care information technology and developed a set of professional etiquette and privacy guidelines to govern computer-based communications — such as e-mail exchanges — between patients and health care providers.
American Psychological Association (APA)http://www.apa.org/
APA, founded in 1892, has charged its Ethics Committee with revising the Association's ethics code to reflect etiquette guidelines for the delivery of mental health services via electronic communications, such as e-mail.
Consumers Union's StopHospitalInfections.orghttp://www.StopHospitalInfections.org
StopHospitalInfections.org,a project of Consumers Union, seeks to help consumers find the best quality of care by promoting the public disclosure of hospital infection rates. The site provides timely information about hospital infection issues and current federal efforts to put this information in a “black box.” The site also has a mechanism for consumers to contact elected officials about the importance of hospital infection, and the role of public disclosure.
Disclosure: Consumers Union also administers Consumer Reports WebWatch.
The Health Improvement Institute (HII)http://www.hii.org/
HII is a non-profit organization that assesses the quality of health care information on the Internet. Using an independent assessment panel, HII annually rates those organizations that rate health information online. As such, HII endeavors to assure that providers of health information meet the Institute's standards of excellence online.
Health on the Net Foundation (HON)http://www.hon.ch/
HON, a Swiss organization, seeks to guide the growing worldwide community of health care consumers and providers on the Internet to sound, reliable medical information and expertise.
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)http://www.icmje.org/index.html#internet
ICMJE is an informal group of editors of general medical journals who are concerned with establishing formatting guidelines for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. These guidelines underwent a major revision in 2003 and now reflect updated standards for electronic, as well as traditional, publishing. With the current standards, ICMJE addresses common Web credibility concerns, such as full disclosure of advertising and conflicts of interest, and attribution of sources for all content.
Internet Healthcare Coalitionhttp://www.ihealthcoalition.org/ethics/ethics.html
The U.S.-based Internet Healthcare Coalition strives, as its mandate, to use the Internet more fully in the sharing of health care information. Its members are from diverse backgrounds ranging from policy-making, to patient advocacy, to journalism. The cornerstone of the Coalition's efforts is the e-Health Ethics Initiative, a set of guidelines relating to privacy, professionalism and accountability for Web-based health information.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services - Office for Civil Rightshttp://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services offers consumers information on medical privacy via the National Standards to Protect the Privacy of Personal Health Information. The agency provides information on how to file privacy complaint, and fact sheets on protecting the privacy of medical information.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Buying Medicines and Medical Products Onlinehttp://www.fda.gov/oc/buyonline/
The FDA offers information on spotting rogue Web sites selling medicine and medical products of questionable origin and quality. The site offers tips and warnings for consumers as well as an online form to report e-mail promoting illegal medical products and unlawful sales of medical products online.
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| About the Consumer Center |
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