Tag: HealthWeb Navigator

The Sun – America’s Leading Cause of Cancer

by Mark A. Kelley, MD This blog that we are sharing for National Stay Out of the Sun Day originally appeared on HealthWebNavigator.   Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Here are some facts: Over 3 million Americans are treated for skin cancer every year. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer during their lifetime.  Skin cancer is preventable and easy to detect.   When caught early, this cancer is usually curable.  Some types of skin cancer can be fatal.     Skin cancer is caused by sunlight damage to the skin. The only way to […]

Does your physician know what you pay for health care?

by Mark A. Kelley, M.D. This blog previously appeared on HealthWeb Navigator. All of us should understand our own health care costs. However, the issues can be complicated: e.g. insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pays etc. Physicians have a different perspective. Like any professional, they focus on how they are paid. Insurance companies require doctors to submit many details with their bills. Physicians rely on sophisticated billing systems to furnish that information, because without it, they are not paid. In a nutshell, patients worry about paying the bills and doctors worry about sending out the bills. This raises a key question. How […]

HealthWeb Navigator

In 2014, Dr. Mark A. Kelley, a faculty member of Harvard Medical School, developed the idea for HealthWeb Navigator while serving as a Harvard Advanced Leadership fellow. Partnering with NeedyMeds in 2016, HealthWeb Navigator has since published hundreds of website reviews. Today, HealthWeb Navigator is launching the full version of its collection of health website reviews written by doctors, nurses, and other health professionals. “Patients are more informed now than ever before,” said HealthWeb Navigator founder Mark Kelley, M.D. “Unfortunately, many people make major healthcare decisions based on something they read online. The least we in the medical community can […]

How to Find Reliable Health Information Online Without a Medical Degree

Over 70% of internet users go online to learn about their health. Research that a few decades ago only doctors could access can now be downloaded over Starbucks’ WiFi. And because the average doctor’s appointment lasts just 13–16 minutes, many see the internet as a free, convenient alternative to medical advice. But convenience doesn’t come without costs. Instant access to health information coincides with an increase in “cyberchondria,” or anxiety about poor health stemming from internet research. Worse, study after study shows online health content is frequently unreliable, inaccurate, or hard to read. That’s why I want to use this […]

Introducing HealthWeb Navigator

This blog originally appeared on HealthWeb Navigator, a new site by NeedyMeds.  It has reviews of health-related websites to help you find the best, most medically reliable information. You can see the beta version of HealthWeb Navigator at www.healthwebnav.org.   What is HealthWeb Navigator and How Does It Work?   HealthWeb Navigator (HWN) directs you to health care websites that provide up-to-date and clear information. HWN resembles a guidebook that recommends the best places to visit on the Web.   Our staff constantly searches the Internet to find health care websites that appear useful to consumers. Our external review panel […]

About Us

Welcome to the NeedyMeds Voice! We look forward to presenting you with timely, provocative pieces on healthcare reform, patient advocacy, medication and healthcare access, and other health-related news. Our goals are to educate, enlighten, and elucidate; together, we will try to make sense of the myriad and ongoing healthcare-related changes in the U.S. today.