AAPA

AAPA Announces Information Rx Program

By Doug Scott

AAPA and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) have formed a partnership to provide PAs with an easy way to refer their patients to MedlinePlus.gov, an authoritative, user-friendly, and advertisement-free Internet site for health information. This summer, AAPA and NLM launched the Information Rx Program, which provides PAs free of charge, Information Rx pads that are designed to look similar to pads used to prescribe medications.

Using Information Rx pads, PAs can direct patients to relevant topics on the MedlinePlus.gov Website to help them gain a better understanding of a health condition, treatment plan, or manage a chronic condition. Information Rx pads will also improve a PAs communication with patients, encourage health information seeking and lessen the incidence of questionable or incorrect Web information that patients frequently bring to a healthcare visit.

Goals of the Information Rx Program include enhanced patient education and improved health literacy. The Information Rx Program will be co-branded with AAPA and will incorporate the tagline, "The Web Site Your Health Professional Prescribes."

PAs can order free Information Rx pads by going to www.informationrx.org.