Healthwise

In the beginning, Healthwise offered printed decision-support and self-care materials for patients. It also publishes the Healthwise Handbook, a handbook with plain-language information and prevention tips on 190 common health problems, which is periodically updated and contains physician-approved guidelines on if and when to call a doctor for the problems it covers.^[2][6] The guidebook was distributed for free with the help of a $2.1m grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to 125,000 households in Idaho; as a result, 39% of recipients reported that the handbook helped them avoid a visit to a doctor.^[6] Additionally, according to the Blue Cross of Idaho visits to the emergency room by owners of the guide went down by 18%.^[6]

Parts of the Healthwise Handbook were replicated in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa; in British Columbia, the handbook was distributed to all households.^[6] The handbook was also translated into Spanish and a specialized version for older adults has been released as well.^[6]

According to a study by the Partners Health Initiative in Anderson, South Carolina, which had supplied 154,000 families with Healthwise information, 23% reported that it saved them an unnecessary trip to the doctor and 13% reported that it prevented an unnecessary trip to the emergency room, with underinsured and uninsured families being the most avid users.^[7]

In the mid-1990s, the company created an online resource for health information, the Healthwise Knowledgebase.^[8] The Knowledgebase features interactive health content and decision support tools and Healthwise requires that all content is evidence-based and reviewed by experts before publication.^[3] Content of the Knowledgebase is used for self-diagnostic services such as WebMD as well as websites of hospitals and health-plan providers.^[2]

• Official website