A decade devoted to improving online health information quality

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Medical Communication
• Web Science

Background:

• The proliferation of online health information necessitated a system to verify reliability and relevance.
• The Health On the Net Foundation (HON) was established in 1995 to address the lack of regulation in online medical content.
• Consumers required tools to assess the credibility of health information encountered on the World Wide Web.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the implementation and evolution of the HONcode, a quality standard for online health information.
• To evaluate the effectiveness, challenges, and results of the HONcode over nearly a decade.
• To highlight the role of HON in developing solutions for reliable online medical information.

Main Methods:

• Development of a code of conduct (HONcode) for online health and medical publishers.
• Implementation of Web applications utilizing Natural Language Processing (NLP) and semantic search technologies.
• Establishment of a voluntary accreditation network for websites adhering to the HONcode standards.

Main Results:

• The HONcode was widely adopted by webmasters seeking to establish credibility.
• Over 4,700 websites have achieved HON accreditation, demonstrating widespread commitment to quality.
• HON has created the largest voluntary accreditation network for online medical publishing.

Conclusions:

• The HONcode provides a robust quality standard for online health information.
• The HON accreditation network significantly contributes to enhancing the reliability of medical information accessible online.
• HON's initiatives have been effective in addressing the challenges of regulating online health content.