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What to Verify Before Using a Health Website for a Personal Decision

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By MedicalFoundationOfNC.org Research Team

Short answer: before you act on anything a health website says, check who publishes the page, when it was written or updated, what sources support it, and whether it applies to your situation. Then take what you found to a licensed health care professional.

MedlinePlus, the consumer health site of the National Library of Medicine, describes two key steps: ask questions before you trust what you read, and discuss the information with your health care provider before you rely on it. As MedlinePlus puts it, you may have found good information, but your provider can tell you whether it is good for you.

Four Things to Check First

  • Publisher: MedlinePlus says you can usually find who runs a website on its “About Us” page, and that a site with no information about who runs it may not be trustworthy.
  • Update date: MedlinePlus says content pages should show when the information was written, reviewed, or updated.
  • Sources: MedlinePlus says content pages should link to or reference where their information comes from.
  • Relevance: A page can be accurate in general and still not fit your age, health history, medications, or circumstances. Your provider can help you judge that.

Publisher-and-Source Verification Checklist

Copy these fields into a note and fill them in for any page you are thinking of acting on. If you cannot fill one in, treat that as a reason for more caution.

  1. Author and publisher. Who runs the site, and is there a way to contact them with questions or feedback? Does the page name the writer and describe their qualifications? Record the names, or write “not found.”
  2. Date. When was the page written, reviewed, or updated? Record the date shown, or write “no date.”
  3. Evidence type. What does the page rely on? MedlinePlus suggests these questions for news stories about medical research, and they are useful for any page that cites a study: Did the research involve people or animals? How many people were studied, and who were they? How long was the study? What type of study was it? Who paid for it? Record what the page tells you and what it leaves out.
  4. Sources. Does the page link to or list where its information comes from? Record whether you could follow at least one source back to its origin.
  5. Conflicts. Is the site meant to inform, to sell products or services, or to promote the views of a person or group? Who pays for it? MedlinePlus advises that ads should be clearly marked, and that if a business pays for a site, the information may favor that business and its products. It also advises caution about dramatic writing, promises of cures, and claims that sound too good to be true. Record what you find.
  6. Second source. MedlinePlus advises that when a site seems trustworthy you should not stop there, and should see whether other reliable sites have similar information. Record at least one you compared.
  7. Question for a licensed professional. Write one specific question, such as: “I read this about my situation. Does it apply to me, and what should I do next?”

If a site asks for your personal information, MedlinePlus also advises looking for its privacy policy and sharing only what you are comfortable sharing.

What Quality Control Can Look Like

According to MedlinePlus, good health information gives balanced facts based on research rather than promoting one treatment over another. It suggests checking the “About Us” page for:

  • An editorial board of health experts
  • A content review process
  • A selection policy for content
  • Information about the writers’ qualifications

MedlinePlus also says that, in general, good health information can be found on sites run by federal government agencies, medical schools, and large professional or nonprofit organizations.

Apply the Checklist to This Site

You should run the same checks on us. MedicalFoundationOfNC.org is an independent editorial publication. It is not a medical practice, pharmacy, hospital, or licensed health care provider. It is not affiliated with The Medical Foundation of North Carolina, Inc., UNC Health Foundation, UNC Health Care, the UNC School of Medicine, or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The domain was previously associated with that organization. To practice the checklist on a concrete page, you can examine our MEDVi health-product analysis: identify its publisher, visible date, sources, and disclosure before deciding whether the information helps your own decision. That link is a practice example, not a product recommendation.

Some pages on this site contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you buy through them. That is a conflict of interest, and you should weigh it using item 5 of the checklist. You can read more here:

Limits of This Checklist

  • A checklist helps you screen a page. It cannot tell you whether information is right for your body or your health history. Only a health care provider who knows your situation can do that.
  • The questions above come from general guidance. They are not a guarantee that a page is accurate.
  • Nothing on this page is medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We are an editorial publication and do not have clinicians on staff who can advise on symptoms, medications, or treatment decisions.

When to Talk to a Licensed Professional

MedlinePlus advises talking with your provider before using online information to make decisions that may affect your health. That includes starting, stopping, or changing a medication, supplement, or treatment, and deciding what a symptom means. Do not change or stop a prescribed medication based on a web page. As a general safety note, if you think you are having a medical emergency, call your local emergency number right away.

What to Do Next

  1. Fill in the checklist for the page you are reading.
  2. Compare it with at least one other reliable source.
  3. Bring your completed checklist and your one question to your next appointment with a licensed health care professional.

This checklist is free to use, and you do not need to buy anything to use it.

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