QHII 2007 workshop report executive summary

Quality of Health Information on the internet (QHII)
2007 workshop report executive summary

On November 12, 2007, Health Improvement Institute (“Institute”) held a one-day, interactive workshop to follow on the Institute’s groundbreaking 1997 workshop regarding the quality of health information on the internet. Representatives from 40 organizations participated in the 2007 workshop. Participants discussed the changes that had taken place in the past 10 years and explored current trends in consumers’ use of online health information.

The workshop agenda consisted of three components: expert presentations, workgroup discussions, and plenary presentations of workgroup results and discussion of next steps. Discussion workgroup topics included:

What consumers want & will use
Trustmarks, ratings, & consumer feedback
Information for the consumers to make healthcare decisions
Gathering evidence & improving research.

Workshop participants concluded that:

The increasing number of internet users who search for health information online means substandard information may affect more people and cause greater damage
Consumers are increasingly turning to social networking, search engines, and community sites for health information
As consumer demographics become more complex, there is a need to adjust the presentation of information to cater to growing diversity
Trustmarks aren’t necessarily trustworthy.

Participants’ recommendations include:

Personalize online health information to cater to consumers’ specific needs
Integrate the use of online health information with the provision of health care
Present information in ways that appeal to consumers of different cultures, health literacy levels, ages, and socio-economic statuses
Encourage health websites to identify themselves with company information and to make efforts to protect consumer privacy in order to create trust
Increase the transparency of the processes by which the quality of information is rated, a trustmark is granted, and/or evidence is gathered
Educate consumers to continue seeking information from trusted sources.

With an increasing number of consumers going online to search for health information, it is now more important than ever to ensure that information on the internet is of excellent quality. The 2007 workshop provided an opportunity for representatives from various sectors of the health/care industry, government, and consumers to evaluate efforts made in the last decade toward this goal and to develop new ideas to realize the promise of online health information, and to avoid its pitfalls by protecting consumers from fraudulent and sub-quality information. Workshop results are expected to generate further discussions, plans to improve the quality of health information on the internet, and evaluations of the effectiveness of these efforts.

Sponsors of the 2007 workshop included Consumers Union and Consumer Reports WebWatch

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