Sharing information, sharing responsibility: helping health care consumers make informed decisions

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Medical Decision Making
• Information Science

Background:

• Informed medical decision-making requires accessible and reliable health information.
• Existing health information services vary in scope and user accessibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To underscore the necessity of providing information for informed medical decision-making.
• To present a functional model for delivering health information.
• To analyze the user demographics and information needs of an independent health information service.

Main Methods:

• Survey of 1083 users of an independent health information service.
• Analysis of user characteristics, information requests, and perceived benefits.

Main Results:

• Identified distinct user groups accessing independent health information.
• Cataloged the types of health information most frequently requested by users.
• Documented benefits for both individual patients and healthcare organizations.

Conclusions:

• Independent health information services are crucial for supporting informed patient choices.
• The findings provide a framework for optimizing health information delivery models.
• Enhanced access to health information can lead to improved patient outcomes and organizational efficiencies.