Contact Information

1415 Lavaca Street
Austin, TX 78701-1634
Phone:
(512) 708-8662
Fax:
(512) 708-1415
toma@txosteo.org

HHS News

HHS Launches healthfinder® español to Provide Spanish-Speaking Consumers With Easy Access to Reliable Health Information

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson on September 28 announced the launch of healthfinder® español, a Spanish-language Web site that helps consumers track down reliable health information quickly and easily on the Internet. Available at www.healthfinder.gov/espanol, the new site creates an easy-to-use Spanish-language consumer resource modeled after the award-winning healthfinder® site.

Healthfinder® español brings together in one easy-to-use site Spanish-language health information on over 300 topics from 70 government agencies and nonprofit organizations, including those health issues of greatest concern to those of Hispanic heritage. The site offers both a Spanish text search and a list of topics in Spanish that can be browsed.

A unique feature of healthfinder® español is the ease with which users of the site can switch between Spanish and English versions of the same information. English-speaking family members or health professionals can use this feature to search in English for information to share with Spanish-speaking relatives or patients.

Regularly listed as a top site in media articles about Internet health information, healthfinder® has won many site awards, including USA TODAY's "Hot Site" award and Lycos' "Top 5% of the Web" award. Additionally, healthfinder® has been noted as "probably the quickest way to find Web-based information on a particular health condition," by Forbes and as "a terrific first stop" by Newsweek.

Report Assesses Impact of Health Workforce on Health Care Accessibility in 10 States

Many Americans are unable to obtain quality affordable health care because their communities lack the right mix of health care providers, according to a new report released today by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The study, The Health Care Workforce in Ten States: Education, Practice and Policy, provides a comprehensive assessment of how a variety of workforce issues impact health care accessibility in a set of representative states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

"We need to do more to get enough doctors, nurses and other health care professionals into the underserved areas where they're needed most," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "This report offers data and analysis to guide states in how they can strengthen the care available in these areas through workforce development."

This study urges state policy-makers to take a hard look at how they:

* finance health professions education;
* license and regulate health professions practice and private health insurers;
* purchase services and pay providers under Medicaid; and
design incentive programs to encourage health professionals to choose certain specialties and practice locations.

Conducted by HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration, the study examines many topics, including: how states organize and pay for health care; the impact of investing in primary care education; and the importance of high retention rates for those physicians trained in-state. The reports were prepared under contract with the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Free copies may be ordered from the HRSA Information Center at 1-888-ASK-HRSA or on the web at www.ask.hrsa.gov.
 

© 2002 Texas Osteopathic Medical Association
Last updated 01/14/2004