FROM THE FOUNDATION

The Social Life of Health Information

A new Pew Internet/CHCF national survey finds the Internet has joined doctors and family members as one of the top three ways people search for answer to their health care questions.

Evaluating One-e-App

CHCF and The California Endowment funded the development of One-e-App, a Web-based program that enables users to apply for multiple public insurance programs at once. Read a business case assessment by The Lewin Group.

Privacy, Security, and the Stimulus Bill

The recently enacted economic stimulus legislation includes a number of improvements to federal health privacy law. This brief looks at issues of privacy and security in the wake of ARRA.

Consumer Information

Monday, June 09, 2008

Patients Use Online Services To Update Friends, Family

Patients are turning to no-cost, online services that let them create Web sites to update friends and family members about their medical treatment and recovery process, the AP/Washington Post reports.

The sites also let friends and family members post notes of encouragement and support online.

Two Web sites -- CarePages and CaringBridge -- were created after medical emergencies and have been used by tens of thousands of patients.

The services offer various levels of privacy, ranging from making the sites available to anyone who knows the page name to restricting the sites to approved visitors. The patient Web sites are not accessible through search engines.

CaringBridge primarily is supported through user donations, as well as sponsor fees from hospitals. CarePages has similar arrangements with hospitals and also sells advertisements (Nano, AP/Washington Post, 6/8).



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