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We wanted to take a minute to warn you about what you can and cannot trust online. If you have read the warnings, click here for a list of our health care sites.
Many people these days are taking the initiative to learn more about responsible self-care for themselves and family members. It is safe to assume that since you are here, you are one of those people. We want to help you search the web for proper, responsible medical information.
Some books, articles, and online information services are reliable, but many are not. You need to distinguish what is helpful from what is harmful. It is important to be aware that many of the online health services were created by companies whose main goal is to make money. Don't be duped by something that serves as an advertisement, even if it doesn't look like the ads on television.
Next time you log on to your favorite health care Web site, look for the sponsor and the advertisers. Then consider whether the information is in your best interest, or whether it's designed to sell you something. If you'd like, we can point you to sites where all the health care information is reviewed by competent medical professionals.
We suggest you use the following five criteria to evaluate the sites you visit. They were developed by George D. Lundberg, MD, former editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association, and health journalist William M. Silberg, Consider any online information unreliable unless you can answer these questions:
Many people these days are taking the initiative to learn more about responsible self-care for themselves and family members. It is safe to assume that since you are here, you are one of those people. We want to help you search the web for proper, responsible medical information.
Some books, articles, and online information services are reliable, but many are not. You need to distinguish what is helpful from what is harmful. It is important to be aware that many of the online health services were created by companies whose main goal is to make money. Don't be duped by something that serves as an advertisement, even if it doesn't look like the ads on television.
Next time you log on to your favorite health care Web site, look for the sponsor and the advertisers. Then consider whether the information is in your best interest, or whether it's designed to sell you something. If you'd like, we can point you to sites where all the health care information is reviewed by competent medical professionals.
We suggest you use the following five criteria to evaluate the sites you visit. They were developed by George D. Lundberg, MD, former editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association, and health journalist William M. Silberg, Consider any online information unreliable unless you can answer these questions:
- Who wrote the article you're reading? The site should contain the name of a real person.
- Where does that person work? A university? A Web business? A product manufacturer? Can you easily find that information on the site?
- Was the information created for the site? If not, is there clear attribution showing where the information originated?
- Who owns the site, and who pays for it? The source of money and ownership should be clearly identified.
- Can you tell when the article itself was posted, whether it has been updated, and when?
Even if you can't answer these questions, you may want to look elsewhere for health information. Even if you can answer these questions easily, there's no guarantee that the information is accurate and unbiased. If you have any questions about anything you find on the Net, we would be happy to discuss them with you. Either bring in a printed copy of the information, or e-mail us the address and we will check it out with you.
In an effort to help you sort through the estimated 70,000 health related sites on the Web, we have listed some of the sites we consider reliable. However, we do not promise all the information on these sites to be accurate. Even using these sites, please keep the about criteria in mind as you surf.
Since so much information is available today, we may not know any more than you on any given medical subject the first time you raise it. However, we make a commitment to you to use our resources to get you responsible answers, in a timely fashion.
Dr. Monte Harvey
Kim Brands, ARNP
Teri Osterkamp, ARNP
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This the web site is for the Health on the Net Foundation. A group who has take on the daunting task of adding some integrity to health information sites on the web. Any site worth trusting will display this icon on the site somewhere. |
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The Center for Disease Control web site. This is a government agency to control disease (duh!) Actually, it is a good site for infection and infection control information. Traveler's information (they have a map to click on your destination and see the recommended precautions, immunizations, etc.) |
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Medline plus is a Health Information site from the National Library of Medicine. They have a wealth of information on lots of subjects in an easily searchable database. |
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A service of the National Cancer Institute. It provided information on various types of cancer, treatment options and latest clinical trials and other vary technical information. Lots of the stuff on this site is for cancer physicians. |
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healthfinder.gov is a service of the Department of Health and Human Services. It offers basic self-care information, including some hard to find information specifically designed for kids, girls and teens. They have a ton of outside links. |
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Adam.com is a San Francisco based commercial site provider of health and wellness information. It is well written, well designed site and includes Dr. Greene.com (possibly the oldest and certainly the best pediatric site we have found.) [see below] It is a HON site. |
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Ask Dr. Greene.com is a site I can completely recommend. It is the oldest of the sites mentioned here and should be a model for all others to emulate. Dr. Greene is clinical faculty member at Stanford University. It is a HON site. |
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A Health Information site from the Mayo Clinic. 'Nuff said. Another site that offers physician reviewed and consumer friendly articles on a lot of health and wellness topics. The only thing the Mayo Clinic has to sell is the Mayo Clinic, so the information should be accurate. |
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The Medscape site is geared for health care professionals and there are areas you can't get to unless you are a physician. The consumer side of this site is now called cbs.healthwatch.com. The internet makes strange bedfellows. We have used Medscape for years and rely on that information. |
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CBS bought another presence on the web with the consumer side of Medscape, a long standing professional web site providing internet based medical information to professionals. A couple years ago they started a consumer side and that is now HealthWatch. |
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Verified by Johns Hopkins and maintained by Aetna US Healthcare, Intelihealth.com provides physician-reviewed, consumer-friendly articles on lots of different subjects. It is a HON site. |
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Dr Koop.com is listed here only because it has spent a ton of money on advertising and everyone has heard of the bearded surgeon general. There have been some concerns about the content and the funding for the site, but I would not let that stop me from looking, just take it with a grain of salt. It is one of the most heavily traveled health information sites on the web. It is a HON site. |
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Another commercial site. WebMD appears to want to be all things to all people. They started with a big splash and lots of ads on TV. I think there are better places to find honest medical information, but it is OK for current events and flash. |
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