AboutMyHealth

Overview

The Aboutmyhealth.org website was created by EIDO Healthcare, based in Nottingham, UK. The core service is the provision of patient information documents about hospital treatments, mainly via healthcare staff. The Aboutmyhealth.org website claims to provide further non-personal information direct to visitors of the website via a search engine.

Products and services

Patient Information Documents:

• There are a few examples of these on the EIDO website:
  http://www.aboutmyhealth.org/eido/links.php
• 'EIDO Healthcare works with a team of around 50 specialist UK-practising surgeons and physicians to develop high-quality, evidence-based patient information about hospital treatments.'
• EIDO does not make the patient information documents generally available to members of the public because they believe documents should be given to patients as part of the doctor-patient consultation, to support shared decision-making about recommended treatment.
• 'The intellectual property rights to the patient information documents belong exclusively to EIDO Healthcare.'

Vetted websites:

• On the EIDO website, EIDO's specialists have vetted a number of websites that give further information related to hospital treatments:
  http://www.aboutmyhealth.org/eido/links.php

The Aboutmyhealth.org website:

• 'Internet gateway to reliable sources of support and information on:•  conditions and treatments; •  living with your condition; •  how to get in touch with support groups in your local area.'
  
• 'This information has been produced to the highest standards in the UK by the leading charities involved in supporting patients and carers.'
  
• Links to a selection of charity websites: from the home page.
  
• Questions to ask: useful page advising what questions to ask your doctor:
  http://www.aboutmyhealth.org/questions.php
• Search engine: this doesn't seem to be working.

Business model

The information seems to be available for free without registration.

It is unclear from the website if there is a formal business relationship between EIDO and the charities listed on the home page.

'EIDO supplies more than 400 hospitals across the UK.' Presumably there is a financial agreement between EIDO and the hospital clients and/or clinicians, and EIDO carries the costs of the Aboutmyhealth website.

People

• No names are listed on the Aboutmyhealth.org website or on the EIDO website.
  

Other comments

 It is not clear if the website is 'active' - the search engine has not been working on at least two visits (tested today using search terms 'asthma' and 'appendix').

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) publishes comprehensive information on its NHS Direct website free of charge and this is open access without registration e.g.:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Appendi...roduction.aspx

News