Healthwise Introduces New Online Spanish Health Guide: GuÃa de salud práctica de Healthwise® to help Spanish-speaking consumers make better health decisions, improve communication with health care providers
Healthwise, Incorporated, today introduced its latest advancement in online medical information to help organizations meet the needs of their Spanish-speaking constituents.
(PRWEB) February 12, 2003
Healthwise, Incorporated
Contact: Brenda Foster
Phone: 208.331.6963/208.345.1897 (fax)
E-mail: bfoster@healthwise. org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Healthwise Introduces New Online Spanish Health Guide
GuÃa de salud práctica de Healthwise® to help Spanish-speaking consumers make better health decisions, improve communication with health care providers
BOISE, Idaho, February 10, 2003—Studies show that consumers who have limited English skills face major communication barriers when they need basic medical care. Healthwise, Incorporated, today introduced its latest advancement in online medical information to help organizations meet the needs of their Spanish-speaking constituents.
GuÃa de salud práctica de Healthwise provides Spanish speakers with online information on more than 220 common health problems and medications to help them make better health decisions. Hospitals, health plans, and employers can use GuÃa de salud práctica de Healthwise as a convenient resource to help improve communication between English and Spanish speakers.
“GuÃa de salud práctica de Healthwise is simply the next step in HealthwiseÂ’s evolution,” said
Donald W. Kemper, Healthwise founder and CEO. “All people—regardless of the language they speak—need access to evidence-based medical information to help them make the best health decisions possible. That’s been our focus and our mission for 27 years.”
Spanish speakers can use GuÃa de salud práctica de Healthwise to develop effective self-care skills. Topics include information on prevention, home treatment, and when to call a health professional. GuÃa de salud práctica de Healthwise helps people get basic health information on issues like:
· ¿Infecciones por bacterias or por virus?/What’s the difference between viral and bacterial infections?
· ¿Se necesitan puntos?/Are stitches necessary?
· Cómo reducir el nivel de colesterol/How to reduce your cholesterol.
“Healthwise recognizes that cultural differences can affect how people understand information. We worked closely with expert translators, including native speakers, to ensure the information is conveyed in a culturally appropriate way,” Kemper said.
GuÃa de salud práctica de Healthwise can serve as a convenient online communication tool for doctors working with Spanish-speaking patients. A bilingual search feature enables users to find the right topic in either English or Spanish. Topic titles appear in both languages. Doctors can also print out the online education materials; this is especially helpful when needing to reinforce and elaborate on information explained verbally to Spanish-speaking patients and their interpreters.
Organizations can choose to incorporate a drug reference provided by Multum Information Services, Inc., to make their Web site a one-stop destination for Spanish health information seekers. The drug reference
Provides information on more than 3,000 over-the-counter and prescription medications and helps people know:
· How to take medications properly.
· Who should not take certain drugs.
· Medication interactions.
· Possible side effects.
GuÃa de salud práctica de Healthwise can be delivered in two formats: XML (available in April 2003) and Healthwise-hosted (available in July 2003). The XML delivery option provides organizations with complete control on how the content is integrated on their Web sites. The hosted delivery option allows organizations to deliver the Spanish health content with a minimum of implementation or maintenance resources while promoting their own organizational brand.
GuÃa de salud práctica de Healthwise is a complementary companion to the Healthwise Knowledgebase—the nationally acclaimed, online English-language resource covering more than 5,000 evidence-based medical topics. The Healthwise Handbook (available in English or Spanish) can also serve as a convenient print companion to both sources of online content. Healthwise information is used by hundreds of hospitals and nine of the top ten managed care organizations in the United States.
About Healthwise
Healthwise, Incorporated, is a nonprofit organization that helps people make better health decisions. More than 30 million health care decisions are made each year with Healthwise® handbooks, online content, and nurse call center resources. Healthwise information is the foundation of self-care programs in the United States, South Africa, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www. healthwise. org or call us at 1.800.706.9646.
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