If reliable medical information is free online, then doctors can "prescribe" it to patients who are ready to read it. That's the idea behind a new program launched today by National Library of Medicine and the American College of Physicians Foundation. The program encourages physicians "to "prescribe" information for their patients from MedlinePlus using a special
'prescription pad' during office visits." Quoting NLM Director Donald Lindberg: "Physicians have always known that an informed patient who takes an active role is a 'better' patient. We believe that both patients and their doctors will welcome this additional medical tool -- good medical information -- in their continuing efforts to provide good health care." More from yesterday's press release: "Today, 80 percent of U.S. adults online use the Internet to find health information, and most say it helps them get better health care, according to a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project....The ACPF and NLM program provides participating internists with a poster, bookmarks, and a supply of prescription pads on which they can write in a disease or condition and advise patients how to look up the information on
MedlinePlus. The NLM's National Network of Libraries of Medicine will help patients who have questions about access to MedlinePlus." (PS: This superb public service depends on open access to peer-reviewed medical literature. MedLinePlus offers this and more: award-winning clarity and ease of use for the lay user. An excellent example of your tax dollars at work.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 4/22/2004 10:27:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
