Health Reference Triage:
Health Resources for the Public
Judith Hayes, Medical Librarian, Tuality Healthcare
Rose Jackson, Reference Librarian, Portland State University
Karen Lippert, Reference Librarian, Oregon Health & Science University
Answering Health Reference
Questions
http://nnlm.gov/healthinfoquest/
Produced by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, this website is
designed for public librarians and health information specialists to
demonstrate
ways to answer health questions using authoritative and reliable
resources.
http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/ref/star/chapter9b.html
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Evaluating Health Information on the Web: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff
- Authority
- Example: famildoctor.org
http://familydoctor.org/- Currency
- Objectivity
- Reading level
- Language
- Design and page layout
- Health on the Net
http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html- A code of conduct for medical and health web sites. 1997.
- MEDLINEplus: Selection Guidelines
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/criteria.html
- MEL: Evaluating Health Information on the Internet
http://web.mel.org/viewtopic.jsp?id=559&pathid=1249- A list of links to evaluating health information on the Internet produced by the Michigan Electronic Library.
- CAPHIS - Web Sites You Can Trust
http://caphis.mlanet.org/consumer/index.html- Web sites selected by the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section of the Medical Library Association.
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Building A Consumer Health Collection
- CAPHIS: Consumer And Patient Health Information Section
http://caphis.mlanet.org/- The Collection Development section of this site includes basic lists of consumer health books, newsletters, and web sites.
- Want some help choosing good consumer health reference books? See our list of Top 10 Reference works. (Word document)
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First Stop Sites
- MEDLINEplus
http://medlineplus.gov/- A resource produced at the National Library of Medicine, it contains a carefully selected list of resources on a growing number of health topics. It includes links to MEDLINE, organizations, and clearinghouses, as well as one of the best medical encyclopedias on the web.
- familydoctor.org
http://familydoctor.org/- From the American Academy of Family Physicians
- healthfinder
http://www.healthfinder.gov- A "gateway consumer health information web site" produced by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. It includes information from the federal government, state and local agencies, not for profit organizations, and universities. Much of it is full text. It also includes links to organizations.
- MayoClinic.com
http://www.mayohealth.org/- Designed for health care consumers, this site includes numerous articles featuring Harvard Medical School's consumer health information, patient versions of drug information from the USP, a medical dictionary, a search engine, and other features of interest to consumers.
- National Institutes of Health - Health Information
http://www.health.nih.gov/- Links to health information as well as drung information, clinical studies, and special programs.
- NOAH - New York Online Access to Health
http://www.noah-health.org/- Provides links to high quality health information that is specifically written for consumers, including information in Spanish.
- PubMed
http://pubmed.gov- PubMed provides free access to MEDLINE (the premier medical database), HealthSTAR, and PreMEDLINE in one database. Includes very current citations. This is the place to go when you need in-depth, clinical information.
- U.S. Consumer Gateway: Health
http://www.consumer.gov/health.htm- A variety of information from U.S. government agencies. Includes information on specific conditions as well as aids for healthcare choices.
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Government and Community Resources
- Oregon
- Oregon Board of Medical Examiners
http://www.bme.state.or.us/- A resource for verifying the satus of a physician or physician assistant's medical license within the state of Oregon.
- Oregon Department of Human Services: Public Health
http://www.dhs.state.or.us/publichealth/- Within the state of Oregon, the Department of Human Services is repsonsible for monitoring the general wellness of the population. Public health is based on science and focuses on population groups rather than on the individual. It emphasizes preventing illness and injury rather than treating a medical condition that has already occurred. This site contains excellent information on environmental health, vital statistics, and all County Health clinics.
- Washington
- Washington Medical Quality Assurance Commission
https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/hpqa1/- A resource for verifying the status of a healthcare provider either by their license number or name. Click on "Provider Credential Search."
- Washington Department of Social and Human Services
http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/- Within the State of Washington, the Department of Social and Human Serices provides key services to citizens including child care, child support, adoption, foster parenting and assistance for caregivers.
Federal
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
http://www.ahrq.gov/- Formerly the Agency for Healthcare Policy and Research, this site includes the Clinical Practice Guidelines, research findings, and information for consumers.
- Centers for Disease Control
http://www.cdc.gov/- Includes the full text of publications such as Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, as well as travelers' health information and data and statistics. It includes links to state health departments.
- Department of Health and Human Services
http://www.os.dhhs.gov- This page includes considerable consumer health information, as well as the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
- Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.gov/- Includes information on human and animal drugs, cosmetics, foods, toxicology, medical devices and radiological health and inspections and imports. It has information about current topics, including new drugs, new therapies (e.g. aromatherapy), and guidelines for drugs/cosmetics/foods. It includes the FDA Drug Approvals List and selected documents are in French, Spanish and Russian. It has a section specifically for kids.
- National Institutes of Health
http://www.nih.gov- Contains links to the individual institutes and offices, health information such as MEDLINE, CancerNet and AIDS related information, and grants and contracts. Includes access to a full-text database of NIH Consumer Health Information.
- National Library of Medicine
http://www.nlm.nih.gov- This site includes information about NLM and other NIH services, research and development activities such as the Visible Human, almost 60,000 images from the Images from the History of Medicine service, the LocatorPlus, the NLM online catalog and PubMed.
- National Center for Biotechnology Information
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov- This site has information on genetics and includes a number of databases including GenBank, a gene sequence database, OMIM: Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, and a free MEDLINE, PubMed.
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Anatomy | Clinical Trials
Complementary / Alternative Medicine
Diseases and Miscellaneous
Drug Information | Laboratory Tests and Procedures | Statistics
- Anatomy
- Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body
http://www.bartleby.com/107/ - "1,247 vibrant engravings - many in color - from the classic 1918 publication, as well as a subject
index with 13,000 entries ranging from the Antrum of Highmore to the Zonule of Zinn."
-
MEDEM: Anatomy and Medical Illustrations
http://www.medem.com/medlb/sub_detaillb.cfm?parent_id=507&act=disp - Many color illustrations of the body and medical conditions.
- MEDtropolis Virtual
Body
http://www.medtropolis.com/VBody.asp - Narrated tours of the human brain, skeleton, heart, and digestive system
in English or Spanish. Uses Shockwave plugin.
- MEDLINEplus:
Anatomy
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/anatomy.html - Links to a variety of anatomy sites.
- Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body
- Clinical Trials
- Cancer.gov - Clinical Trials
http://www.cancer.gov/clinical_trials/ - This site is a service of the National Cancer Institute. You can find a cancer clinical trial, read cancer
information, and read articles on the decision to participate in a clinical trial.
- CenterWatch Clinical Trials
Listing Service
http://www.centerwatch.com/ - This site lists over 41,000 clinical trials. You can also sign up for the notification service, which contacts you
whenever a clinical trial in your area of interest is announced.
- Clinical Trials.gov:
Linking Patients to Medical Research
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui - A database for patients and their families that provides current
information about clinical trials.
- MEDLINEplus:
Clinical Trials
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/clinicaltrials.html - Links to a variety of sites with information on clinical trials.
- NIMH Clinical Trials
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/studies/index.cfm - Find information on clinical trials supported by the National Institute of Mental Health.
- HIV InSite - TrailScope
http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=li-04-24 - This site lists all HIV-related clinical trials in the US that are open for enrollment.
- Cancer.gov - Clinical Trials
- Complementary / Alternative
Medicine
- About Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products
http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11570.cfm - From Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, read evidence-based information on herbs, vitamins, botanicals, and
other supplements.
- Alternative Medicine
Homepage
http://www.pitt.edu/~cbw/altm.html - Produced by the Falk Library at the University of Pittsburgh, this page is
a "jumpstation for sources
of information on unconventional, unorthodox, unproven, or alternative,
complementary, innovative,
integrative therapies".
- Bastyr
University Library: Internet Bibliographies
http://www.bastyr.edu/library/netbibs.asp - Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington, is a nonprofit institution
internationally recognized as a
pioneer in the study of natural healing. It is the only regionally
accredited education and research
center for alternative, natural medicine in the United States. This page
includes links to many
links on alternative medicine, as well as lists of newsgroups and
listservs that would be of interest.
- healthfinder(R):
alternative medicine
http://www.healthfinder.gov/scripts/SearchContext.asp?topic=35 - Links to information on alternative / complementary medicine, including
organizations, journals, and general information.
- MEDLINEplus:
Alternative Medicine
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alternativemedicine.html - Links to a variety of resources on complementary and alternative medicine.
- National Center for Completmentary and Alternative Medicine
http://nccam.nci.nih.gov/health/decisions/ - Includes health information, research, clinical trials, news and more.
- Quackwatch
http://www.quackwatch.com/ - An overview of "alternative methods", questionable therapies and detailed
reports on unconventional
treatments and sources of reliable advice.
- WholeHealthMD
http://www.wholehealthmd.com - This site offers a wealth of alternative medicine information. Find natural remedies for conditions and illnesses, learn about the health advantages of many foods and herbs, and read research articles and news from around the world.
- About Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products
- Diseases and Miscellaneous
-
American Academy of Pediatrics - You and Your Family
http://www.aap.org/family - Many articles on child health.
-
American Board of Medical specialties
http://www.abms.org/ - Verify the board certification status, location of specialty of any physician certified by one or more of the 24
Members Boards of the ABMS. Requires registration (free).
-
American Cancer Society
http://www.cancer.org/ - Provides a wealth of cancer information.
-
American Diabetes Association
http://www.diabetes.org- American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org/ - American Heart Association
- Information on heart health for adults and children. Includes Spanish.
-
Arthritis Foundation
http://www.arthritis.org/- Merck Manuals
http://www.merck.com/pubs/ - Merck Manuals
- Full text of all the Merck manuals (Medical Information/Home Edition, Diagnosis & Therapy,
Geriatrics, Veterinary Manual)
-
National Cancer Institute
http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/ - Comprehensive cancer information, including rare cancers.
-
National Guideline Clearinghouse
http://www.guideline.gov/ - Comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents. Sponsored by the
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
-
National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases
http://www.niddk.nih.gov/- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/- National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)
http://www.rarediseases.org/ - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- Includes information on rare, hard-to-find disorders. Small fee for full report, but well worth it!
-
American Academy of Pediatrics - You and Your Family
- Drug
Information
-
Ask NOAH About: Pharmacy - Drugs and Medications
http://www.noah-health.org/english/pharmacy/pharmacy.html - This comprehensive page contains a wealth of pharmaceutical information
for the consumer. Traditional
drugs as well as herbs, vitamins and minerals are included. There are
links to drug databases, sections for
specific age groups, and a Spanish language option.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.com/ - Read about the food and drugs that the FDA regulates.
- RxList: The Internet Drug Index
http://www.rxlist.com/ - Includes a search option and the "top 200".
- Drug InfoNet
http://www.druginfonet.com - Drug and disease information, as well as the latest news.
- SafeMedication.com
http://www.safemedication.com/ - Produced by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
-
Ask NOAH About: Pharmacy - Drugs and Medications
- Laboratory Tests and
Procedures
-
Lab Tests Online
http://www.labtestsonline.org/ - A great site that lists information on lab tests, diseases, and screenings for children.
-
MedicineNet
http://www.medicinenet.com/ - Select "Procedures and Tests"
- MEDLINEplus:
Laboratory Tests
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/laboratorytests.html - Information on many different tests.
-
Lab Tests Online
- Statistics
- Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/- CDC Faststats - State and Territorial Data
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/- CDC Wonder
http://wonder.cdc.gov/fastats/ - CDC Faststats - State and Territorial Data
- A wide variety of reports and numeric public health data.
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/researchers/ - A broad range of quantitative information on CMS programs, from estimates of future Medicare and Medicaid spending
to enrollment, spending, and claims data.
- National Cancer Institute - Cancer Statistics
http://www.cancer.gov/statistics- National Center for Health Statistics
http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/- State Health Facts Online
http://www.statehealthfacts.kff.org/ - National Center for Health Statistics
- Produced by the Heanry J. Kaiser Foundation. This resource contains the latest state-level data on demographics,
health and health policy, inculding health coverage, access, financing, and state legislation.
- World Health Organization
http://www3.who.int/whosis/menu.cfm - WHO Statistical Information System (WHOSIS)
- Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
