Citation
(2004), "Featured Web site", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 17 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2004.06217aab.013
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Featured Web site
Featured Web site
Medscape Public Health and Prevention: www.PublicHealth.Medscape.com
In October, the American Public Health Association and WebMD Health launched a new online resource. The new site is designed to provide global access to the latest research findings affecting public health and health-care practice. The site is available free of charge, although users are required to register.
The site is easy to use, though slightly "busy" in appearance, and provides a wealth of resources. Its richness makes it easy to lose track of both time and where you are – judicious use of the home button and the back arrow is recommended – but it is a useful site, whether your interest is lay or professional.
It provides general news from Reuters Health and Medscape Medical News, as well as news of conferences. At the time of our visit to the site in October it was reporting on conferences from October 2002 to the most recent ones, the 2nd International Aids Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment held in July 2003 in Paris, and highlights of the 18th Annual National Conference of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) held in June-July 2003 in Anaheim. As we were going to press, Medscape and APHA were planning to create online coverage of APHA's 2003 annual meeting in San Francisco, 15-19 November, to be featured on the new site, including news, commentary and Webcasts.
The site also provides access to all Medscape's resource centres, such as its collections of key clinical content, and the ability to search Medscape, MEDLINE, and DrugInfo.
Another key feature is the CME Center, which offers activities that are available for Continuing Medical Education credit. Medscape offers free, continuously updated continuing education activities for physicians and other health professionals which have been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), and have been developed by ACCME-accredited organizations.
The library section of the site gives access to full coverage or selected articles from a wide variety of public health and prevention journals, such as the American Journal of Public Health, the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and the Journal of Pediatric Health Care as well as clinical references.
The discussions section offers discussions on selected topics and related "Ask the experts" topics. At the time of the visit there was an ongoing discussion about a study in the 19 July issue of the BMJ describing a higher rate of mortality among female infants in India, with a possible cause being sex discrimination ("Community based retrospective study of sex in infant mortality in India", Khanna, R., Kumar, A., Vaghela, J.F., Sreenivas, V. and Puliyel, J.M., BMJ, 2003, 19 July, Vol. 327 No. 7407, p. 126). Contributors were asked which of a number of methods would most help resolve the problem.
The quality of content on the site is managed through an editorial board comprising leading figures in the American public health arena.