General Health Information  | Health Directories

This page is created and maintained by a medical librarian, Charles B. Wessel, M.L.S., Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recognized as the lead federal agency for protecting the health and safety of people - at home and abroad, providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships. CDC serves as the national focus for developing and applying disease prevention and control, environmental health, and health promotion and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States.

Go Ask Alice

Designed for young adults, Go Ask Alice! is the health question and answer Internet service produced by Alice!, Columbia University’s Health Education Program—a division of Columbia University Health and Related Services. "Alice!" answers questions about relationships; sexuality; sexual health; emotional health; fitness; nutrition; alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs; and, general health.

As the name "meta directory" implies, Hardin MD is a "list of lists"; its purpose is to provide easy access to comprehensive resource lists in health-related subjects. In choosing the independent, subject-specific lists in Hardin MD, Hardin librarians have looked at many sites in each field, and have chosen the lists that are most frequently cited by people in the field, thus providing a rudimentary form of peer evaluation.

Healthfinder

Healthfinder is a free guide to reliable consumer health and human services information, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthfinder can lead you to selected online publications, clearinghouses, databases, Web sites, and support and self-help groups, as well as government agencies and not-for-profit organizations that produce reliable information for the public. 

HealthInfoIowa is a result of a grant provided by the National Network of Libraries, Greater Midwest Region. The grant provided funds to support access to electronic health information for the public. This site includes access to consumer health information both general and specific, both local and national. Also has much information about choosing reliable sources of health information on the Internet.

More than 150 top health care organizations contribute to InteliHealth's content, including the National Institutes of Health, other government agencies, major non-profits, other publishers and news media. Provides credible information and useful tools from the most trusted sources, including Harvard Medical School and University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. Includes many interactive health tools, Harvard Medical School’s Symptom Scout and Guides to Tests and Procedures.

KidsHealth 

KidsHealth is one of the largest sites on the Web providing doctor-approved health information about children from before birth through adolescence. Created by The Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media, their mission is to provide the best children's health information on the Internet!

MayoClinic.com gives you access to the experience and knowledge of the more than 2,000 physicians and scientists of the Mayo Clinic.

A gold mine of up-to-date, quality health care information from the world’s largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. MEDLINEplus is for anyone with a medical question. Both health professionals and consumers can depend on it for accurate, current, medical information. This service provides access to extensive information about specific diseases and conditions and also has links to consumer health information from the National Institutes of Health, dictionaries, lists of hospitals and physicians, health information in Spanish and other languages, and clinical trials.

An extensive guide to mental health, psychology, and psychiatry online resources.

The Merck Manual of Medical Information–Home Edition web site has been adapted from the book and developed to meet a growing demand by the general public for highly detailed, sophisticated medical information. The Home Edition is based almost entirely on the text of The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, commonly referred to as The Merck Manual. First published in 1899, The Merck Manual is the oldest continuously published general medical textbook in the English language and the most widely used medical textbook in the world. Click on “Enter interactive edition” to enter.

NOAH seeks to provide high quality full-text health information for consumers that is accurate, timely, relevant and unbiased. NOAH currently supports English and Spanish.

The PubMed database was developed in conjunction with publishers of biomedical literature as a search tool for accessing literature citations and linking to full-text journal articles at web sites of participating publishers. MEDLINE citations and abstracts are available as the primary component of the PubMed database.

The University of Iowa’s award-winning Virtual Hospital digital library contains hundreds of books and brochures for health care providers and patients.
 

General Health Information | Health Directories

The American Hospital Directory provides on-line data for over 6,000 hospitals. Our database of information is built from Medicare claims data, cost reports, and other public use files obtained from the federal Health Care Financing Administration. The directory also includes AHA Annual Survey Data licensed from Health Forum, an American Hospital Association company. Click on the “free services” link to search.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health, through its National Library of Medicine, has developed ClinicalTrials.gov to provide patients, family members and members of the public current information about clinical research studies.

This site contains data from the Iowa Board of Medical Examiners on physicians licensed in Iowa, including disciplinary actions.

The home page of the Division of Health Facilities in the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals (DIA). This is the state agency responsible for inspection and licensure of all Chapter 135C health care facilities in Iowa (e.g., Nursing Facilities, Residential Care Facilities, Intermediate Care Facilities for Persons with Mental Retardation, etc). Also, under state law they are responsible for the inspection and licensure of Hospitals, Birth Centers, Hospices and Psychiatric Medical Institutes for Children. Click on “Facilities” link to search for a list of facilities by county, or click on the “Report Cards” link for reports on facilities provided by the State of Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, Division of Health Facilities