Primary Listings
All Health Topics at MedlinePlus
A to Z topics. MedlinePlus is a service of the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. Directs consumers to information that helps answer health questions; MedlinePlus also has extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and latest health news. Information is consumer-friendly, and site navigation is extremely easy. Ad-free. Our tax dollars are being put to good use at this site
CDC - Site Index A - Z
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Easy to use topic list. The CDC is one of the 13 major operating divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is the principal agency in the United States government for protecting the health and safety of all Americans and for providing essential human services, especially for those people who are least able to help themselves
CDC en Espanol | Centros para el Control y la Prevencion de Enfermedades
CDC site in Spanish, Espanol
Health and the Environment
Site by CDC's National Center for Environmental Health. Topics in an A-Z Index such as air pollution and respiratory health, asthma, weather events like hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme cold or extreme heat, and other environmental health issues such as mold, cancer clusters, and more. General emergency preparedness is included
Health Fact Sheets - 100 topics
Short easy-to-read fact sheets on over 100 health topics, including standard public health topics. Sample: breast cancer, cervical cancer, Choosing a Nursing Home, chronic fatigue, domestic violence, eating disorders, fibromyalgia, gout, hepatitis, incontinence, lung cancer, MRSA, prostate cancer, west nile virus. Prepared by Illinois Department of Public Health
healthfinder.gov - National Health Information Center
healthfinder® is an award-winning free guide to reliable consumer health information, developed by the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies. This site links to carefully selected information and Web sites from over 1600 health-related government agencies and not-for-profit organizations, includes many online checkups, and offers daily health news in English and Spanish. It is ad-free, has been selected as one of the Medical Library Association's Top Ten Most Useful Websites
MedlinePlus: Todos los temas
MedlinePlus A to Z glossary in Spanish
Merck Manual of Medical Information - Home Edition Online
The home edition Merck Manual is a consumer favorite. Search Index is easy to use. Medical information describes symptoms, covers diagnostic tests, common treatments, and generally what to expect for a variety of conditions and diseases
Other Helpful Listings
Health Topic Summaries: Cancer, Bypass, Hip, Knee, Pediatrics, COPD, more
A series of short summaries on common disease topics and health issues, made available by MHA, an association of Montana Health Care Providers from the COMPdata Monthly Monitors. Topics as of Nov 2007 included Cancer (general, prostate, breast, lung), heart bypass, and PCI, Pediatric care, Alzheimer's, Behavioral (mental) health, End of Life Care, Kidney Disease, Obesity, Hip and Knee Replacement Surgery, COPD, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, Influenza, Traumatic Brain Injury, Asthma, Stroke and Diabetes. Summaries provide health information, and statistics about health care system utilization for that disease. Most use 2004 data, some have 2005 data. Consumers need not be from Montana to learn a lot about these health topics
Hospital Comparison Tool - Hospital Ratings & Cost Rankings (all states)
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of New Mexico makes this Hospital Comparison Tool from HealthShare (WebMD) available to compare hospital care ANYWHERE in the country, mostly using Medicare data. No registration required. Gives results according to the importance you give to survival, complication rates, costs, volume and length of stay. Provides rankings, and crosses state lines when doing the search. Considerable detail on different types of complications if you keep delving deeper. Disease categories include Cancer, GI (e.g., appendectomy, colon or bowel surgery, gall bladder, hernia repair, gastric bypass), gynecology (e.g. hysterectomy), stroke (under head & neck), heart (e.g. attack, failure, angioplasty, cardiac bypass, catheterization, defibrillator, pacemaker, valve), lungs (e.g. pneumonia, COPD), medical, mother & baby (maternity, delivery for selected states only), orthopedic (e.g. hip or knee replacement), pediatric, prostatectomy, plastic/cosmetic surgery and heart, kidney, lung or liver transplants. Caution: it always assumes higher volume is preferred, which may not be valid. Patient satisfaction scores from the federal HospitalCompare tool shown, without disclosing dates.
Minnesota: How Much Does It Cost? (word doc)
Short document from the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, 2005, displays average charges (from 2003) for nearly 50 common medical treatments (including endoscopy, ear tubes, hysterectomy, tonsillectomy, having a baby, and some prescription drugs), using Minnesota data. An interesting comparison is the cost for the same problem (e.g. sore throat or ear ache), depending on whether the patient seeks office care, urgent care or ER care. This report adds together charges from both the hospital and the physician - not commonly seen in reports of charges. In a time when price data are so difficult to get, this report earns an Editor's Pick as a starting point. After all, did you know that stepping on a rusty nail could cost over $1000, or that a colonoscopy could be a $2000 question?
PubMed - Entrez PubMed by the US National Library of Medicine (NLM)
When you want to search for clinical or medical information that is written for health professionals (instead of MedlinePlus written for consumer use), PubMed is the place to go. PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 19 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. PubMed includes links to full text articles and other related resources. MEDLINE is the NLM's premier bibliographic database covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences. MEDLINE contains bibliographic citations and author abstracts from thousands of biomedical journals published in the United States and other countries. Use the search box at PubMed to put in what you are looking for
Statistical Abstract 2010: Health Utilization, Expenditures, Diseases
US Census Bureau's National Data Book presents statistics on health expenditures and insurance coverage, healthcare workforce, injuries, diseases including 5-year cancer survival rates, disability status, nutritional intake of the population, and food consumption. Average hospital cost per day in 2005 was $1522, or $8800 per stay (see 2008 abstract); updated costs are only available through purchase. Data in Excel spreadsheets or pdf