In an report
published in today's Journal of the American Medical
Association -- "Health Information on the Internet:
Accessibility, Quality, and Readability in English and
Spanish" -- the University of Pennsylvania Cancer
Center's Internet information resource, OncoLink (http://www.oncolink.upenn.edu)
scored among the highest of the 25 sites reviewed. The
site was rated "statistically better than average"
particularly for breast cancer information, and was
stated as offering "more than 80 percent of the
minimum information needed."
OncoLink Editor-In-Chief, James Metz, MD, was quoted
in today's New York Times as saying:
"Our content is totally written by physicians,
nurses and social workers in their field of expertise.
Very few sites do that. Too many sites are just trying
to sell something and it is scary how they can make
a bad site look good."
Research for the report was conducted by the RAND Corporation
and funded by the California HealthCare Foundation and
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars
Program. It can be found on-line at:
http://jama.ama.assn.org/issues/v285n20/rfull/joc02274.html#aainfo
OncoLink was founded in 1994 by Penn cancer specialists
who wanted to help cancer patients, families, healthcare
professional and the general public get accurate, timely
cancer-related information -- quickly and at no charge.
Through it, you can get information about specific types
of cancer, news about research advances and updates
on cancer treatment.
OncoLink has been recognized as one of the leading
health resources on the Web, reaching over almost 9
million hits per month. It has been cited in several
regional and national publications, television and radio
programs, and online articles and has received numerous
awards including the coveted Global Information Infrastructure
Award in 1998.
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Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.