Utah citizens are frequently connected to the Internet at home, work or through their public library and are eager to participate in the positive outcome of their own health. Vital consumer health information is available statewide, yet is housed in disparate government, academic and public organizations which do not provide ubiquitous access for health information consumers. The Utah Consumer Health Information infrastructure will create a model for development of statewide collaboration and communication in order to provide access to high quality resources, services and programs. The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences library will create a network of human and technological contacts and connections to serve the state's health information seekers. Local, regional and statewide partnerships will be established and be coordinated by a representative advisory board. Current and newly developed resources and services will be shared across the state via the Telemedicine Outreach Program of the Utah Telehealth Network. The objectives of the project are to: - Foster collaboration among Utah's health information providers. - Utilize advanced data networking and telecommunications technologies to provide access to health information for consumers and health care providers. - Develop educational resources and services, training and promotion to facilitate access to high quality, understandable and useful consumer health information. - Build an ongoing assessment/evaluation component supporting continuing program development and refinement. The ultimate goal of the project is to create a transparent infrastructure, assuring every person in Utah universal access to authoritative consumer health information regardless of geographic location.
