Following Advisories Evaluation Of A Healthrela
Following Advisories Evaluation Of A Healthrela
In July 1999, The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) issued the
following advice to consumers who use the Internet for health-related
information and services. ATA’s criteria for a quality site include the
following (“Advisories” 2–3):
- The site is sponsored by a reputable healthcare organization
(American Cancer Society, American Medical Association, nationally
recognized medical college, or the like). Information from a commercial
interest such as a drug company should include assurances that the
material is reasonable, balanced, and objective and does not merely
promote the company’s own products. - Each information source is clearly documented.
- A site providing online diagnosis or prescribing treatment and
medication avoids any direct sales of the treatments or medications
being prescribed. - The professionals offering medical consultation are fully licensed and their credentials are clearly posted.
- The site clearly describes its policies and procedures for
maintaining records of the consultation and safeguarding patient
privacy.
Visit a health-related Website and evaluate it according to the above
criteria. Focus on sites that cover alternative health such as as Alt Medicine (Links to an external site.), sites that create specific recommendations based on the information you provide such as WebMD (Links to an external site.), sites that offer specialized consultation about specific medical conditions such as HealthLine (Links to an external site.), or discussion sites for people with a specific medical condition such as the Cancer Survivors Network (Links to an external site.) .
Assume that you are a Website consultant. Based on your reading
so far about technical communication and the ATA guidelines above,
prepare a numbered list of specific problems you noticed on the Website
and a recommendation of how each problem could be corrected. Your list
should be approximately one page, single spaced, with a double space
between the problem and the solution and a double space before each
numbered item. Attach a title page to your list, formatted in proper APA
style.
In July 1999, The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) issued the following advice to consumers who use the Internet for health-related information and services. ATA’s criteria for a quality site include