MedlinePlus

MedlinePlus is a free Web site that provides consumer health information for patients, families, and Health care providers. The site brings together information from the United States National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), other U.S. government agencies, and health-related organizations. The U.S. National Library of Medicine produces and maintains the site. MedlinePlus includes a companion site in Spanish,^[1] which offers similar content for the Spanish-speaking community. It also offers a mobile site in both English and Spanish optimized for display on mobile devices. Over 150 million people from around the world use MedlinePlus each year.^[2]

MedlinePlus contains:

• Health topics and a medical encyclopedia covering hundreds of diseases, conditions, and wellness issues.
• Drug information for both generic and brand-name prescription and over-the-counter medications.
• Herbal and dietary supplement information.
• A medical dictionary.
• Health news articles from Reuters Health Information and HealthDay, plus press releases from major medical organizations.
• Directories> of physicians, dentists, hospitals, clinics, and other health care providers.
• Videos of surgical procedures and anatomy videos.
• Interactive health tutorials that use animations and sound to explain conditions and procedures.
• MedlinePlus Connect, a service linking patients or providers in electronic health record (EHR) systems to related MedlinePlus information on conditions or medications.
• A mobile site to provide authoritative health information for the growing audience of mobile internet users.

History

Throughout its history, the National Library of Medicine traditionally focused its programs and services on health care professionals. In the 1990s, the Library recognized that the general public was becoming a very important user group, due to the increasing availability of Internet access.^[3] This new user group needed access to reliable health information in a consumer-friendly, Web-based format.^[4] The National Library of Medicine sought to meet this need with the introduction of MedlinePlus in October 1998.

MedlinePlus debuted with 22 English-language health topics. Today, it has grown to over 800 health topics in English and Spanish and also includes links to health information in over 40 other languages.

Since its inception, the site has received numerous awards and media recognition for its quality and usefulness. The site consistently scores highly in the American Customer Satisfaction Index.^[5]

Notes

1. ^ "Medlineplus.gov en español" (in Spanish). http://medlineplus.gov/spanish/. 
2. ^ "MedlinePlus Statistics". National Institutes of Health. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/usestatistics.html. 
3. ^ Naomi Miller, M.L.S., Systems Librarian, Eve-Marie Lacroix, M.S., Chief, Public Services Division, and Joyce E. B. Backus, M.S.L.S., Systems Librarian (2000 Jan). "MEDLINEplus: building and maintaining the National Library of Medicine's consumer health Web service". Bulletin of the Medical Library Association (BMLA) 88 (1): 11–7. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=35193. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
4. ^ Marill JL, Miller N, Kitendaugh P (January 2006). "The MedlinePlus public user interface: studies of design challenges and opportunities". Journal of the Medical Library Association 94 (1): 30–40. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1324769. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
5. ^ "ACSI Scores for U.S. Federal Government". The American Customer Satisfaction Index. 2010. http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=238:acsi-scores-for-us-federal-government-2010&catid=14&Itemid=298. 

References

• Miller N, Lacroix EM, Backus J (2001 Mar-Apr). "The making of Medlineplus". Public Libraries 40 (2): 111–3. 
• Miller N, Tyler RJ, Backus JEB (2004 Fall). "MedlinePlus: The National Library of Medicine brings quality information to health consumers". Library Trends 53 (2): 375–88. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/staffpubs/lo/LibraryTrends_fall2004.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-08. 

External links

• "MedlinePlus Quality Guidelines". http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/criteria.html. 
• "Articles about MedlinePlus". http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bibliography.html.