Quality of Health Information Online: HONcode everywhere May 23, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in eHealth, Health, Health 2.0, honcode, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Web 2.0.trackback
A few days ago, I mentioned when I create Web 2.0 Guidance Packages on Webicina.com that contain all the web tools that focus on a specific medical condition or medical specialty, I always try to measure or determine the quality of health information. How can I do that easily? I have to find a third, neutral party that analyzes the quality of medical information website by website. This is the Health on the Net Foundation, or HONcode.
They have a plugin that you can install on your Firefox or Internet Explorer so whenever you are on a website it will let you know whether that site is accredited by HONcode or not.
And now I checked my Wikipedia page and got this. A little HONcode logo next to the Scienceroll.com link.
In the References section of a medical article, there are HONcode logos next to the peer-reviewed articles and accredited websites.
And when I did a search for a medical term in Google, I saw this:
I guess it’s because I installed the HONcode plugin. It’s very helpful.
[...] Read more here: Quality of Health Information Online: HONcode everywhere [...]
My experience so far does not suggest HONcode accreditation to be so trustworthy. The standard of compliance with the HONcode guidelines appears to be very poor.
Issuing a complaint about the Australian Dental Association site’s HONcode compliance on a number of points recently, I was shocked by the Health On the Net Foundation’s response.
You can read my complaint and the Health On the Net Foundation’s response via http://bradfieldresident.wordpress.com/category/health/organisations/health-on-the-net-foundation-organisations-health/
Bradfield Resident
Sydney, Australia
Hello!
It’s very interesting what you write because I really believe in the power of HONcode. I must take a deeper look at your posts and will write about it on Scienceroll as well.
Thank you for sharing!
The Australian Dental Association site was my first encounter (that I recall) with the HONcode accreditation system.
The HONcode team statement that “Sources information are not needed, becuase this site information was authored by fully qualified dentists” begs belief.
Bradfield Resident
Sydney, Australia