1/19/2014

Health On the Net Foundation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HealthOntheNetFoundation
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

HealthOntheNetFoundation(HON)isanotforprofit organizationfoundedin1995undertheauspicesofthe GenevaMinistryofHealthandbasedinGeneva, Switzerland.Thiscameaboutfollowingthegatheringof 60oftheworld'sforemostexpertsontelemedicineto discussthegrowingconcernsovertheunequalqualityof onlinehealthinformation.Theunanimousconclusionof thisgatheringwastocreateapermanentbodythatwould, inthewordsoftheprogram,"promotetheeffectiveand reliableuseofthenewtechnologiesfortelemedicinein healthcarearoundtheworld."TheHONFoundation becameoneofthefirstorganizationstoguidebothlay usersandmedicalprofessionalstoreliablesourcesof healthinformationincyberspace.

HealthOntheNetFoundation

Type Industry Founded

Nonprofit Healthcare September1995

Headquarters Geneva,Switzerland Products Website Certification,Trustedhealthsearch engineandeducation http://www.healthonnet.org

Contents
1Mission 2Certification 3MisuseofHONcode 4References 5Externallinks

Mission
Themissionofthefoundationistoguidethegrowingcommunityofhealthcareconsumersandproviderson theWorldWideWebtosound,reliablemedicalinformationandexpertise.Inthisway,HONseeksto contributetoimprovedhealthcarethroughpatientempowermentandbetterinformedhealthprofessionals.

Certification
HONFoundationissuedacodeofconduct(HONcode)(http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html)for medicalandhealthWebsitestoaddressreliabilityandusefulnessofmedicalinformationontheInternet. HONCodeisnotdesignedtoratetheveracityoftheinformationprovidedbyaWebsite.Rather,thecode onlystatesthatthesiteholdstothestandards,sothatreaderscanknowthesourceandpurposeofthemedical informationpresented.TheHONcodeisvoluntary,[1]whichmeansthatwebmastersandinformation providerscanapplyforHONcodecertification.Followingthis,thewebsiteisreviewedbyaspecializedteam ofhealthandlegalprofessionals.TheHONcodecertificationisadynamicstateandisextendedeveryyear accordingtositecompliance.Itistheoldestandthemostusedethicalandtrustworthycodeformedicaland healthrelatedinformationavailableontheInternet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_On_the_Net_Foundation 1/4

1/19/2014

Health On the Net Foundation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TheprinciplesoftheHONcodeare: 1. Authorityinformationandadvicegivenonlybymedicalprofessionalswith credentialsofauthor/s,oraclearstatementifthisisnotthecase 2. Complementarityinformationandhelparetosupport,notreplace,patient healthcareprofessionalrelationshipswhichisthedesiredmeansofcontact 3. Confidentialityhowthesitetreatspersonalandnonpersonalinformationof readers TheHONcode 4. Attributionreferencestosourceofinformation(URLifavailableonline)and Logo dateswhenpageswaslastupdated 5. Justifiabilityanytreatment,productorservicemustbesupportedbybalanced, wellreferencedscientificinformation 6. Transparencyofauthorshipcontactinformation,preferablyincludingemailaddresses,ofauthors shouldbeavailable 7. Transparencyofsponsorshipsourcesoffundingforthesite 8. Honestyinadvertisingandeditorialpolicydetailsaboutadvertisingonthesiteandcleardistinction betweenadvertisedandeditorialmaterial CurrentlytheHONcodeisusedbyover5,000certifiedwebsites,covering72countriesandhasbeen translatedinto34languages.Itisusedtosensitizewebpublisherstotheneedforqualityinformationand createawarenessinhealthprofessionalsandso,helpguidetheirpatientstotrustworthyhealthinformation. HONoffersallusersthetrustworthywebsitesandsupportgroups,medicalimagesandterminology,journal articlesandnewsthroughitssearchenginesMedHunt(http://www.hon.ch/MedHunt/),HONcodeHunt (http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Hunt/)andHONselect(http://www.hon.ch/HONselect/).HONalsoprovides twodatabasesoftrustworthyhealthinformation,oneoneyediseasesandtheotherongeneralmedical conditions.Provisu.ch(http://www.provisu.ch/)isadatabaseofreliablehealthinformationonalleyediseases andisaccessiblebythosewithpoorornovisionthroughitsvariabilityoflettersizeandaudioversion. Santeromande.ch(http://www.santeromande.ch/)isanextensivedatabase,mainlydirectedtowardsthe FrenchspeakingpublicofSwitzerlandandneighbouringFranceandprovidesreliablehealthinformation, directoryofregisteredhealthprofessionals,medicalcentersorhospitals,medicalassociationsandfederal organizations. HealthOntheNetFoundationwasgrantedon23July2002NGOstatusbytheEconomicandSocialCouncil oftheUnitedNations.HONalsohasapartnershipattheFrenchgovernmentallevel,whenitwasaccredited in2007bytheFrenchNationalAuthority(HAS)(http://www.hassante.fr/portail/display.jsp?id=c_453883)to betheofficialcertifyingbodyforallFrenchhealthwebsites.

MisuseofHONcode
AjournalarticleraisedanumberofproblemswiththeHONcodelogo,indicatingthatconsumersmaymistake itasanawardorinterpretitasanindicatorforassessedinformation.OtherissueswiththeHONcodelogo werediscussedintheJournalofMedicalInternetResearch(JMiR),apeerreviewedeHealthjournal.[2] WebsitesthatarenotincompliancewithHONcodecancontinuetodisplaythelogo,asHealthOntheNet Foundation(HON)hasnomeansofobligatingtheoffendingwebmastertoremovethelogo.Clickingonthat logo(forverification)willnotindicatethatthesiteisoutofcompliance,asHONcodeonlyindicatesthatsites are"undergoingannualreview".Hence,websitesthatarenotincompliancewithHONcodemaystillbe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_On_the_Net_Foundation 2/4

1/19/2014

Health On the Net Foundation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

displayingtheHONcodelogo,callingintoquestiontheentireprincipleofHONcode.Otherproblemswith theapplicationoftheHONcodeprinciplesarethatHONdoesnothaveameansofverifyingmanyofthe principles,suchascredentials(medicalorotherwise)asstatedonwebsitesdisplayingthelogo,orthat copyrightorconfidentialityisnotviolatedbywebmasters.HONcodereliesonthewebmasterforhonest representationsaboutcompliancewiththeprinciples. Inrecenttimeshowever,HONhasdevelopedwaystocounteractthemisuseoftheHONcode.Oneoftheseis theuseofanactiveanddynamiclogo(http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/policy.html)whichshowsitsvalidity andreflectsthesitecomplianceinrealtime.Inaddition,allmedicalcredentialsareverifiedthroughnational databasesofregisteredmedicalprofessionals.HONhasalwaysencouragedtheinternetcommunityto demandforqualityhealthinformationandthegeneralpublicplaysalargeroleinthepolicingofthe HONcodebyHON. Consumerprotectionadvocate,StephenBarrett,isastrongsupporteroftheHONcodeandhasmadeeffortsto improvecompliancewithitsrulesandtoexposethosewhomisuseit.Inawhole"SpecialtoTheWashington Post",extensivecoverageofhisviewsonthesubjectwereprovided,includingsuggestedimprovementsand hiscriticismsofmanynamedmisusers.[3] Incasesofsuspectedfraudulentwebsites,orofmisuseoftheHONcode,HONadvisesinternetuserstoalert QuackwatchorHONitself:"IfyoucomeacrossahealthcareWebsitethatyoubelieveiseitherpossiblyor blatantlyfraudulentanddoesNOTdisplaytheHONcode,pleasealertQuackwatch.Ofcourse,ifsuchasite DOESdisplaytheHONcode,alertusimmediately."[4]

References
1. ^GreenbergL,D'AndreaG,LorenceD(June2004)."Settingthepublicagendaforonlinehealthsearch:awhite paperandactionagenda"(//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1550592). JournalofMedicalInternet Research 6(2):e18.doi:10.2196/jmir.6.2.e18(http://dx.doi.org/10.2196%2Fjmir.6.2.e18).PMC1550592 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1550592).PMID15249267 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15249267). 2. ^JMIRarticle(http://www.jmir.org/2000/2/e13/) 3. ^ChristopherWanjek.AttackingTheirHONor:SomeDisputeValueofLogoUsedtoVerifyAccuracy,Integrity OfHealthWebSiteContents.(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/articles/A255562004Apr19.html)Special to TheWashingtonPost,April20,2004PageHE01 4. ^"Howtobeavigilantuser"(http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/audience_t.html)HealthOntheNetFoundation, accessed8April2009.

Externallinks
HealthOntheNetwebsite(http://www.hon.ch) JMIRarticle(http://www.jmir.org/2000/2/e13/) Provisuwebsite(http://www.provisu.ch/) Santeromandewebsite(http://www.santeromande.ch/) PresentationofHONcodeonFrenchNationalAuthoritywebsite(http://www.has sante.fr/portail/display.jsp?id=c_453883) PolicingtheHONcode(http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/policy.html) MedHunt(http://www.hon.ch/MedHunt/)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_On_the_Net_Foundation 3/4

1/19/2014

Health On the Net Foundation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HONcodeHunt(http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Hunt/) HONselect(http://www.hon.ch/HONselect/) Retrievedfrom"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? title=Health_On_the_Net_Foundation&oldid=578787963" Categories: Healthcharities NongovernmentalorganisationsbasedinSwitzerland Healthinformatics Healthwebsites Telehealth OrganisationsbasedinGeneva NonprofitorganisationsbasedinSwitzerland Thispagewaslastmodifiedon26October2013at05:47. TextisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlikeLicenseadditionaltermsmay apply.Byusingthissite,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy. WikipediaisaregisteredtrademarkoftheWikimediaFoundation,Inc.,anonprofitorganization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_On_the_Net_Foundation

4/4