Health Improvement Institute has established the following process to select health professionals to rate health websites:

• The Institute issues a call for raters.
• Participants who are interested in rating health websites complete a brief application form and submit it with a 1-page biographical sketch in relevant detail.
• The Institute evaluates each application with the assistance of a 3-member Raters Credentialing Committee (RCC). Each RCC member individually assesses an applicant's credentials. The Institute credentials those applicants whom a majority of RCC members determine meet credentialing criteria.
• The Institute selects panels of raters from among credentialed raters so that, to the maximum extent practical, members of the panel represent relevant diversity.
• Each year, raters complete a statement of interests, and, when rating a website, identify any conflict of interest. If a rater identifies a conflict of interest, the Institute reassigns the website to another rater to assess.

Credentialing criteria
Criteria to credential applicants to rate health websites include:

• Health professional, eg, physician, nurse, health educator, health librarian (as evidenced by degree in a health related-field, preferably at least at the masters level)
• At least 5 years of continuous relevant experience (10 years if no advanced health-related degree or experience not continuous)
• Currently active in health field
• Sufficient qualifications and experience to evaluate health websites (as evidenced in application and/or biographical sketch)
• Does not have, nor has had in the past 5 years, any event that might create the appearance of unsuitability to rate websites
• Once credentialed, professional performance as a rater (eg, prompt and appropriate completion of website rating forms).

Selection criteria
Criteria to select credentialed raters to form panels to rate health websites include, to the greatest extent possible:

• Type of organization at which employed currently
• Role (eg, web publisher, librarian, user)
• Professional background
• Region of the country

To rate health websites

To participate in QHII

To request information