HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the launch of a 9-month pilot project with WebMD Health to make HHS consumer health information more widely and more rapidly available to the public on a new HHS "channel" on WebMD. The partnership will also accelerate the ability of HHS to disseminate life-saving information to the public in the event of a major public health emergency. The new HHS channel on WebMD is available at http://hhs.webmd.com.
"The Web has become an important tool for government to communicate with its citizens, and this new partnership with WebMD will greatly expand our ability to empower Americans through the Web to improve their health and prevent disease," Secretary Thompson said. "In the event that a major public health emergency ever confronts our nation, this new partnership also will help us get potentially life-saving information out to the public as quickly as possible. This is one more way we are building our biodefense preparedness."
Through the HHS-WebMD partnership, HHS will be able to reach a broad audience and help them become more literate about health care and health in general -- whether it is how to read a food label properly so they can make smart choices about what they eat, or how to talk to their doctors.
"WebMD and HHS share the same mission of ensuring that all Americans have immediate access to critical health information so that they're able to make more informed health care decisions," said Wayne Gattinella, President, WebMD Health. "We're pleased to have HHS as a partner as this collaboration further demonstrates WebMD's position as the leading source of health information for consumers and physicians."