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HealthInfo content strategy

Background

HealthInfo is the Canterbury health system's patient information website. It went live in March 2011. In 2015 West Coast DHB adopted a local version of HealthInfo to provide a reliable source of current health information for the people of the West Coast.
The primary purpose of HealthInfo is "to provide high-quality information, vetted and approved locally, that health professionals can refer their patients to for diagnosed conditions". The secondary purpose is "to provide the same high-quality information for patients to access when searching for general health and wellbeing information".
Traditionally, written information provided by health professionals has been manually organised and the hard copies are often out of date. The information in HealthInfo is held and used electronically which means that patients can be sure they are using information that is constantly reviewed, updated, and added to.
All of the information provided on HealthInfo is approved by the clinical advisers. The clinical advisers are all qualified health professionals working in the Canterbury or West Coast health system.
To help patients to use HealthInfo, health professionals can write the correct search term on the HealthInfo card (below) and give it to their patient. The patient or their family can then access the information on any of their personal electronic devices or publicly at their local library (and in some cases a kiosk at their general practice).
Health professionals can also print hard copies of information for their patient by following the HealthInfo links in HealthPathways.

Content strategy

Good quality patient information is already available in print and on the internet. However, it is difficult for patients to know whether the information they have found is reliable and relevant to the local health system. HealthInfo's purpose is not to recreate patient information that already exists elsewhere, but to direct patients to information that has been carefully vetted and filtered to ensure that it is reliable and relevant.
The criteria for what types of information are included in HealthInfo and what types of information are not included are given below.
When looking for information, local West Coast information is given first preference, New Zealand information second, Australian third, and overseas last.
Where suitable information is available on the internet, HealthInfo provides links to that information.
Where suitable information is available but not on the internet, the information is added to HealthInfo with the approval of the information owner.
Where suitable information is not available, information is written by a health professional.
All existing and new information and links are checked and approved by a clinical editor before being added to HealthInfo.
Where relevant, HealthInfo provides links to support organisations. When looking for support organisations, local West Coast support organisations are given first preference, New Zealand support organisations second, Australian third, and overseas last.
The information in HealthInfo is in a format that can be understood by most users. The information is in written, pictorial and video formats, as appropriate.
The information in HealthInfo follows the EQIP (Ensuring Quality Information for Patients) patient information guidelines (produced by the Great Ormond Street Hospital, London). To learn more about EQIP, see http://www.centralcancernetwork.org.nz/file/fileid/30657.
The information in HealthInfo is not generally translated into other languages but links are provided to translated resources where available. Specific information is translated if there is an urgent need for the information to be available in other languages.

Criteria for inclusion

Information about the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and management of a condition.
Information about the post-discharge management of a condition. This could include a description of community-based services available to help after discharge.
Information about support organisations and groups.
Information about prevention, reducing risk, lifestyle, and so on.
Self-help information, advice and recommendations, such as breastfeeding advice, taking medication while breastfeeding, keeping safe in an emergency, flu vaccinations.
Information about medications.
General information about surgery, medical procedures and tests, and preparing for hospital visits and operations.
Information about end-of-life planning and palliative care.
Information about the availability and eligibility of funding and entitlements for health-related services.
Information about where to go for help about bullying, abuse, and so on.
General information about health rights, health information and privacy.
Information about public health promotions.

Criteria for exclusion

Pre-admission preparation and checks (should be sent to patients by West Coast DHB services, but letters and other information can refer to, or link to, HealthInfo as appropriate).
Locations, hours, services, and other details of a given service (should be on the West Coast DHB public website, but HealthInfo can link to this).
Details of specific people in hospital departments, private practices, and so on, including specific phone numbers and email addresses.
Details of services provided by private health organisations unless they provide publicly funded treatment.
Clinical information that requires explanation by a health professional or the health professional to fill in specific information, such as an anxiety action plan, or exercise programmes.
General promotional material.

Private healthcare providers

Private healthcare providers are not normally listed on HealthInfo unless they provide publicly funded services.
HealthInfo links to professional body member directories like Physiotherapy New Zealand – Find a physio and New Zealand Speech-Language Therapists' Association – Find a therapist near you.
It also links to health service directories like Healthpages and Healthpoint.

Exceptions can be made to these criteria if there are good reasons for doing so.

Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed October 2016.

Page reference: 208542

Review key: HIIHP-148325