Kaiser Permanente Launches Program to Help Consumers, Medical Professionals Learn How to Judge Reliability of On-line Health Information.

Business Editors/High-Tech & Health Writers

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2001

Summary of Americans' Favorite Health Web Sites, Content

Evaluation Criteria and Expert Opinions are Part of New

Health Information Check Up Program

Kaiser Permanente, the country's largest non-profit healthcare provider, launched a new program today to help Americans learn how to judge the reliability of medical and health information they find online.

The Health Information Check Up (HICU) program, available to both Kaiser Permanente members and non-members at www.kp.org/hicheckup, is the only online health content program to combine consumer input about favorite medical and health web sites with expert perspectives on these sites, and tools that can help consumers and medical professionals alike learn how to judge the reliability of sites on their own.

"As a leading provider of healthcare in this nation, we feel compelled to jump into the online health content fray on behalf of our patients, our staff and the communities we work in," said David M. Lawrence, MD, MPH, and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals. "As the number of Americans searching for health information online climbs above 40 million, the Internet has the potential to make a significant contribution to this country's health -- but right now there is just too much information and too few practical guideposts to help users evaluate it. We created the Health Information Check Up program to provide these much-needed practical tools and tips."

The Health Information Check Up web pages feature the results of an online health information survey that asked more than 4,000 Americans about their favorite and/or most frequently visited health web sites, including the sites' most important features and individual health activities that resulted from online information. Roper Starch Worldwide and Harris Interactive conducted the survey on behalf of Kaiser Permanente.

"Rather than just asking a small group of `experts' to come up with a list of `top' health sites, we felt it was important to ask consumers which sites they feel are best and why," said Adrienne Mims, MD, Kaiser Permanente and a member of the Health Information Check Up advisory board. "Consumers can benefit from each others' experiences with these sites, and it's important for medical professionals to know which sites their patients are likely to be visiting."

An advisory board comprising medical professionals and online health information experts evaluated the 10 sites selected as "favorite/most frequently visited," including WebMD, DrKoop.com and the Mayo Clinic Health Oasis, against a specific set of criteria (viewable on the program web pages). Board members' feedback, which also can be viewed on the Health Information Check Up web pages, includes the types of Internet searchers who would benefit most from each site (e.g., experienced vs. novice), the advantages and drawbacks of each site, and alternate site recommendations.

"Individuals should be given tools to help them become more educated consumers of online health information," said Denise Silber, founding member of the Internet Healthcare Coalition board and a member of the Health Information Check Up advisory board. "This will enable online information seekers to make their own determinations about the value, reliability and safety of the information they find. This is important given the challenges of evaluating all of the information out there and because no `approved' list or regulation system is going to be completely current at any given moment."

Findings from Kaiser Permanente's online health information survey reinforce the importance of tools that can help consumers and medical professionals evaluate the reliability of online health information:

-- 42 percent of survey respondents say they visit a medical/health web site at
least monthly.

-- Respondents who report having a favorite site (n=1,006) say they visit these
sites an average of 50 times each year (or about once each week).

-- 76 percent of respondents who have a favorite web site said they like the
site because the information/content it contains seems factually correct and
accurate. Surprisingly, elements that respondents said were not as important to
them include security/privacy (24 percent) and special features (20 percent).

Survey findings also suggest that medical professionals should discuss the reliability of online health information with their patients. Thirty-one percent of respondents said information obtained from their favorite site led them to talk with a medical professional about specific medications, and 25 percent said information found online inspired them to make a medical appointment. The Health Information Check Up web pages provide specific suggestions for how consumers and medical professionals can work together during medical visits to get the greatest value out of online health information.

"The Internet has real potential to enhance relationships between medical professionals and patients, but there are caveats," said Lawrence. "Patients should not show up at their physicians' offices with volumes of downloaded information, and medical professionals should not just send patients `to the Internet' to look for information without any direction -- it's not helpful and may actually be dangerous. The Health Information Check Up program offers alternatives to these scenarios, as well as a starting point for professionals and patients who want to be more confident about their abilities to find or recommend reliable online health information."

Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health care organization. Founded in 1945, it is a nonprofit, group-practice prepayment program with headquarters in Oakland, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 8.2 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Today, it encompasses Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the Permanente Medical Groups as well as an affiliation with Group Health Cooperative based in Seattle. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes about 100,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees, and approximately 11,000 physicians representing all specialties.