FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOISE, Idaho, November 16, 2010—The Healthwise-hosted delivery option of the online Healthwise® Knowledgebase now has an attractive, engaging, new user interface. But it’s more than just a “pretty face.” The new design makes it easier for people to find and use the health tools, decision aids, and other actionable information that are important to their health.

“We conducted rigorous consumer testing to shape the new layout and functionality,” said Healthwise President and COO Jim Giuffré. “Every enhancement we made serves one important purpose: to help people find the right information and tools, understand them, and then act on them to improve their health.”

• A new home page with eye-catching visual design.
• Rollover windows with brief definitions to answer people’s questions as they read through a topic.
• Overlay windows—for illustrations, multimedia, and supporting content—that remain connected to original content so users don’t lose their place.
• Expand-and-collapse functionality so that users can scan through and quickly find the information they’re looking for.

Healthwise licenses this product and others to health organizations, which in turn, provide Healthwise products to their consumers. With this product improvement, Healthwise offers new options for its clients to more clearly self brand and easily integrate the Healthwise content into their websites, patient portals, or personal health records. And because “location, location, location” matters just as much in website real estate, Healthwise has added new, dedicated space so that these groups can promote their own programs and services alongside relevant Healthwise content.

The Healthwise Knowledgebase is more than just an online health encyclopedia. With nearly 9,000 up-to-date, easy-to-understand topics, tools, and illustrations, this in-depth resource is uniquely decision-focused. In addition to thousands of plain-language explanations of medical conditions, symptoms, tests, and treatments, the Knowledgebase provides hundreds of interactive decision aids and tools that help people answer questions like:

• What’s my risk for a heart attack or stroke?
• Why is it bad for someone with diabetes to eat too much sugar?
• Is back surgery right for me?  Should I give my child antibiotics?

“Healthwise and its partners value informed health consumers,” said Giuffré. “Our new user interface is designed to engage and inform. And when people are informed, they’re better able to make health care decisions that are right for them. They understand and ask for the care they need, and they avoid care that doesn’t help.”

About Healthwise
Healthwise is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help people make better health decisions. More than 110 million times a year, people turn to Healthwise information to learn how to do more for themselves, ask for the care they need, and say “no” to the care that’s not right for them. Healthwise partners with health plans, hospitals, disease management companies, and health websites to provide up-to-date, evidence-based information to the people they serve. To learn more about Healthwise, visit www.healthwise.org or call 1-800-706-9646.