NC Health Info Launch a Phenomenal Success

The Kickoff

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Health Sciences Library and School of Information and Library Science have developed NC Health Info, a Web site to help state citizens -particularly those in rural areas- have better access to quality health information and health care within their own communities. The kickoff event for NC Health Info was held on Tuesday, January 14th at 10:30am at the Pittsboro Memorial Library.

The launch featured speakers including Dr. Donald Lindberg, director of the National Library of Medicine; U.S. Representative David Price; N.C. Senator Ellie Kinnaird; N.C. Representative Joe Hackney; Dr. Leah Devlin, state health director; Carol Jenkins, director of the Health Sciences Library ; and Dr. Joanne Marshall, dean of the School of Information and Library Science. The site has also received letters of support from Senator John Edwards and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser.

Joanne Marshall, Dean of the School of Information and Library Science greets Rep. David Price and Dr. Donald Lindberg, Director of the National Library of Medicine.

"A Pilot Program"

NC Health Info is a pilot program that will be replicated in other states, officials said. This is the first such program to link local resources to a national database of authoritative health information (MedlinePlus), they added. The site has been created with funding from the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine - the world's largest medical library.

NC Health Info links to MedlinePlus, the NIH's site for health information, to answer basic health questions and then links to local health-care resources (including resources from every county in the state). All links on this site have been researched by UNC medical librarians.

Diana McDuffee, AHEC LIS Network Director, said $300,000 to $400,000 a year has been allocated for the project development and maintenance, to keep up with the constantly changing local information and its links with the national database.

"Bridging the Gap"

"It's friendly," Elmira Mangum, UNC associate provost for finance, said, noting that her son had an appointment at a sports medicine clinic Tuesday for a football injury and prepared himself by accessing the new Web site. "And it's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

"This is our business in public health," Leah Devlin, state health director, told nearly 100 people crowded into a meeting room of the Chatham County town's library.

"This is the first step toward bridging the gap between health information and local health services needed by patients and their families," said Donald Lindberg, director of the National Library of Medicine.

"The public can and should understand the nature of their illnesses and what should be done about them," said the nation's top health librarian. He said even though the MedlinePlus information is geared to consumers, it is highly respected for its medical accuracy. In fact, Lindberg said, research conducted by the national library shows that 20 percent to 25 percent of its users are doctors.

North Carolina's addition of localized information will allow users to find out things like where they can go to get a vaccination or test, as well as what's involved, he added.

NC Health Info, the first of its kind is to serve as a model for similar sites across the nation. The National Library of Medicine hopes to unveil sites in other states in the near future.

"It shouldn't surprise anyone that North Carolina is the first to show the rest of the country how this can work," said U.S. Rep. David Price, D-4th District, pledging to recommend that his constituents "bookmark" the site for fast and regular access to quality health information.