Discover the Science of Health
The HONcode is the oldest and most widely used ethical code concerning the quality and trustworthiness of medical and health related information available on the internet. It was created for evaluating medical and health websites and outlines eight ethical standards in the presentation of medical and health information online.
To become HONcode accredited and display the HONcode seal, there is an application process and an annual review. The aim of the HONcode is to protect the reader by ensuring that they know the source and purpose of medical and health information they read on the internet.
Healthcare Vox published an article earlier this week entitled “Is the Medical Blogosphere Dying?”, commenting on the number of well-known medical bloggers leaving the blogosphere. Although I don’t think the medical blogosphere is dying, recent events have been a catalyst for change and it’s definitely undergoing a transformation.
The medical blogosphere lost two important voices this week. FatDoctor was forced to shut down her blog due to privacy concerns. Flea’s blog mysteriously vanished. Given that he has been blogging about his malpractice trial, it’s likely that his blog also was taken down because of privacy issues. Hopefully, we’ll see his blog reappear when the litigation has finished.
I’m very pleased to announce that Highlight HEALTH is now an HONcode accredited website.
As I wrote previously in The Trust and Credibility of Healthcare Blogs, I believe that when it comes to blogging about healthcare, trust and credibility are essential. One of the principle motivations for creating Highlight HEALTH was to develop a health resource that not only provided information on dietary supplements, nutrition and health news, but which presented evidence to support that information.
