According to the Pew Foundation's "Internet in American Life Study," over 60 million Americans per year use the Internet to search for health information. All those concerned with healthcare and how to obtain personally relevant medical information form a large additional target groupMany Medical Informatics programs-both in the United States and abroad-include a course in Consumer Health Informatics as part of their curriculum. This book, designed for use in a classroom, will be the first textbook dedicated solely to the specific concerns of consumer health informaticsConsumer Health Informatics is an interactive text; filled with case studies and discussion questionsWith international authorship and edited by five leaders in the field, Consumer Health Informatics has tapped some of the best resources in informatics today

Spurred by the impact consumer health informatics has had on patientsand healthcare providers, this comprehensive volume details allaspects of this emerging science, namely patient empowerment, patientto provider communication, ethics, and security and confidentiality.Edited by five leaders in the field, this book will be anindispensable tool for medical informaticians, healthcare providersprofessors, and students.

Consumer Health Informatics.- Empowered Consumers.- Tailored Health Communication.- Design and Evaluation of Consumer Health Information Web Sites.- Information Delivery Methods.- Delivery of Online Learning for Healthcare Consumers.- Qualitative Evaluation in Consumer Health Informatics.- Patient-to-Patient Communication: Support Groups and Virtual Communities.- Electronic Patient-Centered Communication: E-Mail and Other E-Ways to Communicate Clinically.- Consumer Health Vocabulary.- Disability Informatics.- Ethical Issues in Consumer Health Informatics.- Social Informatics and Consumer Health.- Security of Healthcare Information Systems.- The National Library of Medicine Reaches Out to Consumers.- Baby CareLink: Collaborative Tools to Support Families.- CHOICEs: Patients as Participants in Shared Care Planning at the Point of Care.- MedCERTAIN/MedCIRCLE: Using Semantic Web Technologies for Quality Management of Health Information on the Web.- The MI-HEART Project.- CHESS: 10 Years of Research and Development in Consumer Health Informatics for Broad Populations, Including the Underserved.