Have Consumer Health Websites, Will Travel: Taking Patient Education Information to Physicians' Offices

Abstract

Medical Library staff at the Gwinnett Hospital System developed a novel way to enhance services to clinical staff by traveling to physicians' offices for hour-long “lunch and learn” tutorials for doctors and office staff. Librarians discovered that doctors and office staff voiced a need for authoritative patient-education information in various languages and literacy levels. The librarians review both fee-based and free, vetted Internet sites through the hospital's physician portal and the Internet. The article discusses a number of useful websites librarians can show hospital staff so they can better teach their patients how to find health information and participate in their own care.

keywords:

• Patient education
• consumer health
• value-added library services
• outreach

Comments and suggestions should be sent to the column editor: Mary Fran Prottsman. (E-mail: [email protected]).