Hi-Ethics to Subscribe to URAC Health Site Standards

Health Internet Ethics, a consortium of health Web sites, announced yesterday that it will use health Web site accreditation standards developed by URAC to certify members' compliance with its principles, rather than developing its own accreditation program with an independent consumer advocacy group, as originally planned, Reuters Health reports. Donald Kemper, the chair of Hi-Ethics, said that URAC's accreditation program offers the "best and clearest pathway" for certifying health Web sites' compliance with ethical standards. A Hi-Ethics spokesperson said that the URAC standards match the ethical guidelines developed by Hi-Ethics last year, which govern user privacy and confidentiality, quality of health information, advertising and commercial relationships and consumer relations. URAC will work with TRUSTe, the independent consumer advocacy group with which Hi-Ethics had originally planned to partner, to implement the accreditation program (Reuters Health, 5/22).