Five things to look for in a health site

The latest news on Medicare's prescription drug program is troubling, on the face of it: More than 3 million low-income seniors who are eligible for the program have not sought the government subsidy or signed up for a plan. One of them is my mother-in-law.

Vivian is nearly 80, one of the nicest people I know, and also one of the healthiest. You can see her dancing at left. (And yes, that's her natural hair color, for which she credits a Native American grandmother.)

Rather than follow the government's advice to sign up for a prescription drug plan, she's decided to keep paying for prescription drugs herself. Why? Because she's only on one regular prescription, and it costs $10 a month. Most of the available plans have co-payments higher than that, plus monthly fees. Like her, quite a few of these 3 million people may have simply done the math and decided they were better off without a government program. They're making decisions for themselves.

When the plan was first introduced in 2005, the choices were confusing enough federal officials encouraged elderly people to have an adult child or friend help them. I did this for my dad -- again, someone who doesn't take others' word for anything regarding his health, but looks at the information and makes his own decision.

Today, everyone is a health care consumer, and a lot of what we need to know, we have to find out for ourselves. It's not always easy. That's why I'm excited that OrganizedWisdom is going to be making it even easier to share and find the wisdom you need to make good health decisions. Look for these changes over the next several weeks, and watch this blog -- I'll tell you more about what's coming up as our plans solidify.

In the meantime, here are five tips for evaluating the health information that you find online:

• Know who is publishing the site and what their interest is in promoting a specific product or treatment. (Check the "About Us" section for clues.)
• Look for evidence that the site's content is reviewed by editors or medical experts.
• Remember that everyone is different. The health measures that work best for you may be completely ineffective for me.
  
• Pay attention to tone of the writing and design of the site. A cautious, scientific style may be less fun than an emotional appeal, but when it comes to your health, information is more important than entertainment.
• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.