Evaluating Health Information On The Web
Accidentally or intentionally, misleading information provided
during the sale or purchase of a house or car can be financially
troublesome as well as a major inconvenience. Acting on
erroneous medical advice, however, can be catastrophic. For this
reason, extreme caution is crucial with any health information
obtained on the Web. Never act on any medical information from
an online source without asking the following questions and
without consulting your own physician.
Who Runs The Web Site? Knowing who runs a Web site can
give you a clue as to its purpose. For example, a major
pharmaceutical company may run a very informative health Web
site. They want to appear credible, they need to be trusted, and
in addition, they are being watched very closely by regulating
authorities at a number of levels. Most of these companies will
make sure to display corporate ownership information, names of
editors, etc. On the other hand, a single individual reselling
medical products may not feel the same pressure to accurately
inform visitors of how the site is operated. So the rule for
consumers is to make sure that there is an 'About Us' section on
the Web site that adequately identifies the ownership of the
site.
Who Pays for the Web Site? While it may seem obvious that
the owner pays for the Web site, this is not often the case.
Webs sites cost money to maintain. Web sites can exist for a
number of reasons, and each reason can introduce a different
source of funding. Here are some examples
* Commercial Web sites -- Funds are usually derived from
advertising or subscription fees.
* Public service Web sites -- Funding methods may include
corporate sponsorships, and grants from both public and private
non-profit organizations.
* Educational Web sites -- Financial support may come directly
from the school budget or from a variety of corporate and
non-profit endowments.
* Altruistic Web sites -- In these cases, individuals or small
groups usually pay for their own site.
Although valuable information may be found on each of these
types of Web sites, for health research, the source(s) of Web
site funding can be a concern, especially in terms of possible
bias reflected in the information provided. The importance of
knowing how and by whom a particular Web site is funded cannot
be overstated.
Suppose, for example, that a single, well-intentioned cancer
survivor, using his or her own money, sets up an altruistic Web
site including a directory of cancer-related health information.
That person may spend several weeks compiling links to
interesting articles and other Web resources. As time passes,
however, he or she may lose interest, become involved in other
projects, or forget about the site entirely. The result is that
the Web site is still out there with old out-of-date information
still available to unsuspecting consumers. Another strong
possibility is that the person who started the Web site did not
have the professional training necessary to distinguish between
relevant medical information and well-greased marketing
materials. The bottom line is that the altruistic or low budget
Web site often suffers from a lack of resources to ensure
continuing high quality, up to date content.
What is the Original Source of the Information on the Web Site?
If I told you that a cure for cancer was found last week, your
first reaction would probably be "Where did you hear that?"
Simply put, that is the same question you need to ask whenever
you read about a new medical procedure or discovery on the Web.
Reputable sites will always post the source of the material,
often including a link back to the originator.
How is Information Reviewed Before it is Posted on the Web Site?
You may be surprised to learn that many of the news headlines
you encounter on the Web are simply small pieces of code that
call on databases to collect a predetermined number of headlines
that match certain keyword criteria. In other words, there is
not always someone who checks the source of the material for
relevancy to the topic at hand. For medical information, human
oversight is crucial and essential. Responsible Web sites use
editors to select and evaluate relevant data. For medical Web
sites, a person or often a group of people are specifically
trained to separate marketing messages from reliable medical
data.
You Are Not Alone There are several organizations that
have been set up to address the problem of ensuring that the
medical information provided on the Web is reliable. While their
success rate is not 100 percent, they do provide a starting
point for responsible Web publishing. It is hoped that this will
evolve into a universal standard for health and medical Web
sites.
Standards Organizations The following agencies are
involved in developing standards for the reliability of medical
information on the Web.
Health On The Net Foundation (HonCode) www.hon.ch
Internet Healthcare Coalition www.ihealthcoalition.org/
DISCERN http://www.discern.org.uk/
MedCircle http://www.medcircle.org/
American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (URAC)
http://www.urac.org/
AMA Voluntary guidelines
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1905.html#GUIDE
Journal of Medical Internet Research http://www.jmir.org/