Health Center's online program helps patients help themselves

A new online tool designed to help patients maximize the quality of their health care is being offered through the Health Center.

Believed to be the first of its kind, HealthEcademy is a convenient, free program that can be accessed through the Internet by clicking on http://healthecademy.uchc.edu/ any time of day or night.

HealthEcademy features several video presentations by School of Medicine faculty and other Health Center experts, who provide practical information on a number of health-related topics to enable individuals to become better, more successful patients and patient advocates.

“The task of navigating today’s complex health care system is becoming more challenging and frustrating for patients everywhere,” says Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, vice president for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

“Patients continuously seek practical information to help them achieve better outcomes. The demand for such information continues to grow, yet people often don’t know where to turn to receive information that is current and credible. As leaders in academic medicine, we’ve established the nation’s first HealthEcademy to address this growing public health need.”

HealthEcademy participants will be able to identify their rights and responsibilities as a patient or patient advocate, employ strategies to optimize doctors’ office visits and hospitalizations, and find and use reliable sources of health information to increase their understanding of medical conditions and treatment options.

Course topics include:

• “Questions You Were Never Asked … But Should Have Been” – how to optimize doctors’ office visits and make efficient use of time spent with health care providers.
• “A Roadmap to Reliable Health Information” – how to find reliable and accurate sources of health information and evaluate web sites.
• “Understanding the Results of Diagnostic or Screening Tests” – how to interpret diagnostic and screening test findings and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the diagnostic process.