Healthwise® Knowledgebase Awarded Second-Year URAC Health Web Site Accreditation

Healthwise, Incorporated, announced today that it has earned reaccreditation under URACs Health Web Site Accreditation Program. Healthwise was among the first wave of 13 organizations to receive this important distinction in 2001 and is one of seven to receive second-year accreditation today.

Healthwise, Incorporated
Contact: Brenda Foster
Phone: 208.331.6963/208.345.1897 (FAX)
E-mail: bfoster@healthwise.org   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Healthwise® Knowledgebase Awarded Second-Year URAC Health Web Site Accreditation

Boise, Idaho, December 19, 2002-As consumer use of hospital and health plan Web sites skyrockets, health Web site accreditation gathers steam and enters its second year. Healthwise, Incorporated, announced today that it has earned reaccreditation under URACs Health Web Site Accreditation Program. Healthwise was among the first wave of 13 organizations to receive this important distinction in 2001 and is one of seven to receive second-year accreditation today. Healthwise is a nonprofit organization that licenses online health information to hundreds of hospitals and nine of the top ten managed care organizations.

For 27 years, our Healthwise mission has been to help people make better health decisions," said Healthwise Chairman and CEO Donald W. Kemper. Our medical writers and expert reviewers follow exceptionally rigorous guidelines to assure that we provide people reliable, helpful information for those decisions. URAC accreditation is one important way that we confirm our quality and accountability."

The credibility and accuracy of online health information is an issue that many people have questioned. Helping people identify reliable sites through URAC accreditation becomes even more important in view of the increasing numbers of people turning to the Internet for health information. For example, a recent study by Manhattan Research found that consumer use of hospital and health plan Web sites has tripled in the last year.

By applying for and receiving URAC Health Web Site Accreditation, Healthwise has displayed its leadership through a commitment to quality and accountability," said Garry Carneal, URAC president and CEO. Such a commitment is critical to the future growth of e-health as an integral part of our nations health care system."

Kemper and Healthwise are leading a new movement in health care, called information therapy, or IxTM, in which information is prescribed to patients as part of the process of care. According to Kemper, once information is recognized as an essential part of care, it must meet a higher standard of quality and ethics. The URAC accreditation process provides that higher standard."

About Healthwise
Healthwise, Incorporated, is a nonprofit organization that has been helping people make better health decisions since 1975. More than 30 million health care decisions are made every year with Healthwise information through handbooks, online content, and nurse call center resources. The new intelligent" Healthwise Knowledgebase is indexed for online information therapy, to help organizations deliver the right information to the right person at the right time. For more information, visit www.healthwise.org and www.informationtherapy.org, or call 1.800.706.9646.

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