1. Health Law Research Online Good for You or Hazardous to your Health? Spencer L. Simons Elizabeth Schneider SWALL Annual Meeting, 2006 Austin, Texas April 7, 2006

2. Health Sites v. Health Law Sites Legal Information Institute http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Health ABA Health Law Section http://www.ABAnet.org/health/home/html http://www.ABAnet.org/health/home/html Health Law Section, State Bar of Texas http://www.texhealthlaw.org http://www.texhealthlaw.org Guide to Health Law, Hieros Gamos http://www.hg.org/health.html Georgetown University Law Library Research Guide - Health Law http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/guides/health.cfm Government Accounting Office Reports http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/topic.php

9. Introduction Assumption: we all are now familiar with the WWW and “how to”. “Health Law”: subsumes many subjects. Related Information: Medical, public health, pharmaceutical, organizations and professions. High and growing importance for professionals and general public. Result: Astounding number of sites of high quality, and plenty of bad ones. Focus: a few of the best sites for critical purposes, mostly for the professional librarian assisting professionals or the public. A warning about traps for the unwary.

10. Overview Introduction Glossaries and Acronyms Megaportals and Pathfinders Health Law specialty sites "Warm up" sites for the non-specialist Best medical literature sites Key reference works Medical images Directories and Physician information Medical Statistics Bioethics Elder laws Consumer-oriented sites Warning to the unwary

11. Glossaries & Acronyms Glossaries of Commonly Used Health Care Terms http://www.academyhealth.org/publications/glossary.htm http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html Acronyms http://www.CMS.hhs.gov/acronyms

15. MegaPortals & Pathfinders Hieros Gamos Provides many links to legal and news resources, directories, and practice oriented materials. Intended audience; law firms. http://www.hg.org Health Pathfinder – University of Houston Law Center Provides hundreds of annotated links from the UHLC Health Law and Policy Institute’s web page. Covers health law, health policy, and general health. http://www.law.uh.edu/healthlaw/pathfinder/homepage.html Health Law & Medicine Page An extraordinarily inclusive page created by Prof. Tom Mayo, SMU Law School. Includes much of what you’ll find on other portals and pathfinders, plus surprising things representing Prof. Mayo’s personal interests. Much on Texas. Worth exploring. http://faculty.smu.edu/tmayo/twmlinkshealthmedicine.htm#misc

19. Health Law Topical Sites HIPAA HHS guide to HIPAA. http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/ Medicare/Medicaid Guides for the Public Official sites to inform the public. http://www.ssa.gov/mediinfo.htmhttp://www.ssa.gov/mediinfo.htm Medical Malpractice Guide to understanding elements and strategies involved in medical malpractice claims, including the litigation process, medical experts, and confidential status of medical records. Many links to common examples of malpractice in medical specialties and procedures. http://www.lectlaw.com/tmed.html Healthcare Management This site is provided by a consultant, but has a wealth of links to information on healthcare administration, finance, managed care, directories, and more for hospital, physician, nurse and other executives. http://www.pohly.com/books_index.html

24. “Warm Up” Sites MedicineNet.com Provides easy to read introductions to many medical topics. A good place to start before using more technical resources. Includes a medical dictionary. http://www.medicinenet.com Aetna IntelliHealth Provides information to the public from expert sources, including Harvard Medical School and Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery, http://www.intellihealth.com

27. Best Literature Sites Entrez MedLine A service of the National Library of Medicine, includes over 15 million citations for biomedical articles back to the 1950's. Citations are from MEDLINE and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full text articles. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi PubMed Central PubMed Central is the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov MeSH Terms & Definitions, at Health on the Net Foundation www.hon.ch/home.html

31. Key Reference Works Physicians Desk Reference For professionals and the public. Registration required, but free. http://www.pdr.net/pdrnet/librarian Merck Manual of Diagnosis & Therapy http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/home.jsp American Heart Association’s Heart & Stroke Encyclopedia http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jthml?identifier=10000056

35. Medical Images Numerous sites contain medical images. Medical Images on the Web Provided by McGoogan Library of Medicine at the U. of Nebraska Medical Center, provides links to a number of collections of images. http://www.unmc.edu/library/reference/medimage.html

37. Directories & Physician Information National Health Information Center A health information referral service, which puts health professionals and consumers who have health questions in touch with appropriate organizations. http://www.health.gov/nhic/ American Medical Association’s Doctor Finder Provides basic professional information on virtually all MDs and DOs in U.S. and possessions. http://dbapps.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm Docinfo.org Provides public access to disciplinary records. Maintained by the Federation of State Medical Boards. http://www.docinfo.org/

41. Medical Statistics National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/default.htm Glasgow University Library’s Medical Statistics on the Internet http://www.lib.gla.ac.uk/Depts/MOPS/Stats/medstats.shtml Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Research, Statistics, Data & Systems http://new.cms.hhs.gov/home/rsds.asp American Cancer Society’s statistical data site http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/stt_0.asp Section 3 of the Statistical Abstract of the United States http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract.html http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract.html

47. Bioethics American Journal of Bioethics http://www.bioethics.net ABOJ Weekly News & Updates Weekly compilation of full text articles on bioethical and health law topics. Subscriptions are free, but subscription is required. http://www.bioethics.net/news.php http://www.bioethics.net/news.php NIH Bioethics Research on the Web http://www.nih.gov/sigs/bioethics/ National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature The Kennedy Institute of Ethics library and information services page. http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/ National Bioethics Advisory Commission Digital Archive http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/nbac

48. More Bioethics President’s Council on Bioethics Contains reports, background materials, and related sites including links to prior bioethics commissions. http://www.bioethics.gov Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity Topical information and resources. Brings a Christian worldview to bear on these matters. Exists to help individuals and organizations address the pressing bioethical challenges of our day. http://www.cbhd.org/index.html http://www.cbhd.org/index.html Center for the Study of Bioethics At the Medical College of Wisconsin. Includes a link to Bioethics News. http://www.mcw.edu/bioethics/ Center for Bioethics at Columbia University Online bioethics gateway. http://www.bioethicscolumbia.org/resources.html

58. Elderlaw ElderLaw Answers Provides legal information, not legal advice. Provides the best information on the Internet on critical issues facing seniors. Also provides a network of highly qualified elder law attorneys nationwide. http://www.elderlawanswers.com Senior Law Homepage Source of information that senior citizens, attorneys, social workers and financial planners can access. Created by Goldfarb Abrandt Salzman & Kutzun of New York City. Contains links to sources. http://www.seniorlaw.com Megalaw.com’s Elder Law Page Contains links to statutes, agencies and resources, national elder law organizations and resources, and state elder law web sites. http://www.megalaw.com/top/elder.php http://www.megalaw.com/top/elder.php

62. Elder Law: Nursing Homes Medicare’s Nursing Homes page Has information on nursing home inspections, alternatives to nursing homes, paying for long term care, residents’ rights, nursing home publications and nursing home related sites. There is also a checklist for selecting a nursing home. Its best feature may be Nursing Home Compare, which makes it possible to compare individual nursing facilities. http://www.Medicare.gov/nursing/overview.asp http://www.Medicare.gov/nursing/overview.asp State Nursing Home Resources Prepared by individual states, but with national applicability. http://www.cdphc.state.co.us/hf/static/ncf.htm (Colorado) http://www.cdphc.state.co.us/hf/static/ncf.htm http://www.health.state.ny.us/facilities/nursinghttp://www.health.state.ny.us/facilities/nursing (New York) http://www.idph.state.il.us/a-zlist.htm#Nhttp://www.idph.state.il.us/a-zlist.htm#N (Illinois) Several Maryland agencies and legal organizations have compiled the information here to help people to know what your choices are ahead of time. http://www.oag.state.md.us/consumer/nurshome.htm (Maryland) http://www.oag.state.md.us/consumer/nurshome.htm

63. Nursing Homes, continued AARP Policy & Research for Professionals in Aging Nursing Home Fact Sheet provides a good introduction to the topic. Also information on costs, quality, long term care insurance and nursing home trends. http://www.aarp.org/research/longtermcare/nursinghomes Nursing Home Information Site Prepared by a social worker. Information presented helps with questions relating to nursing homes, Medicare, Medicaid, long term care insurance, patients’ rights and advanced treatment. Includes nursing home ratings which claim to be unbiased. http://www.angelfire.com/tn/NursingHome http://www.angelfire.com/tn/NursingHome CareScout Allows user to search and compare a variety of facilities include nursing homes, assisted living facilities, house health agencies and hospice agencies. http://www.carescout.com

72. Elder Law: Guardianship National Guardianship Association Good information of what constitutes guardianship. Links to resource agencies. http://www.guardianship.orghttp://www.guardianship.org Disability Law Center of Alaska– Introduction to Guardianship Very good introductory material. http://www.dlcak.org/publications/guardianship/

75. Elder Law: Elder Abuse National Center for Elder Abuse Source of information and assistance on elder abuse. Provides links and directories, laws and legislation, statistics and research and resources. http://www.elderabusecenter.org Elder Abuse Information on types, possible causes, links, and resources. http://www.geocities.com/~elderly-place/abuse.html Elder Abuse and Neglect: In Search of Solutions By the American Psychological Association’s Office on Aging. Offers a good discussion of the topic. http://www.apa.org/pi/aging/eldabuse.html Department of Justice’s Elder Abuse Page By the Office for Victims of Crimes. Includes links to support organizations. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/help/ea.htm http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/help/ea.htm

80. Consumer-Oriented Sites Many sites, particularly governmental, have some consumer oriented information. MedLinePlus A service of the NLM and NIH, it includes consumer- oriented information on over 700 health topics, drug information, an illustrated encyclopedia, and links to numerous directories. http://medlineplus.gov/ http://medlineplus.gov/ Center for Drug Evaluation and Research FDA site with professional and industry-oriented information, but also much accessible drug information for the consumer. http://www.fda.gov/cder/

83. Warning to the Unwary Web has many dubious sites by self-styled experts and advocates. Here are sites seeming to give objective information, but look closely: A portal to commercial sites A site selling a supposed antidote (not supported by medical experts) A site for law firms soliciting p.i. and class action claimants