![\"<p>Dr.](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Patient_health_online_lg-300x267.jpg\" "\\"Dr.")
<\/a>HealthEcademy features several video presentations by School of Medicine faculty and other Health Center experts, who provide practical information on a number of health-related topics to enable individuals to become better, more successful patients and patient advocates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe task of navigating today\u2019s complex health care system is becoming more challenging and frustrating for patients everywhere,\u201d says Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, vice president for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients continuously seek practical information to help them achieve better outcomes. The demand for such information continues to grow, yet people often don\u2019t know where to turn to receive information that is current and credible. As leaders in academic medicine, we\u2019ve established the nation\u2019s first HealthEcademy to address this growing public health need.\u201d<\/p>\n
HealthEcademy participants will be able to identify their rights and responsibilities as a patient or patient advocate, employ strategies to optimize doctors\u2019 office visits and hospitalizations, and find and use reliable sources of health information to increase their understanding of medical conditions and treatment options.<\/p>\n
Course topics include:<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cQuestions You Were Never Asked \u2026 But Should Have Been\u201d \u2013 how to optimize doctors\u2019 office visits and make efficient use of time spent with health care providers.<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cA Roadmap to Reliable Health Information\u201d \u2013 how to find reliable and accurate sources of health information and evaluate web sites.<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cUnderstanding the Results of Diagnostic or Screening Tests\u201d \u2013 how to interpret diagnostic and screening test findings and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the diagnostic process.<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cLegal and Ethical Issues at the End of Life\u201d \u2013 practical information about treatment decisions at the end of life that are consistent with the patient\u2019s goals and values.<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cUnderstanding HIPAA Privacy\u201d \u2013 an outline of the many facets of privacy protection to which patients are entitled under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).<\/p>\n
These video presentations total more than three and a half hours of instruction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe HealthEcademy can significantly help people become wise and savvy health care consumers by providing the tools they need to negotiate today\u2019s health care environment with confidence,\u201d says Dr. Scott Wetstone of the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowledge and information are the foundation for maximizing patient care and being your own best advocate, and direct instruction from professionals is the best way to build that foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Program manager Wendy Soneson says, \u201cThis educational program, which we believe is the first of its kind in the nation, is for everyone. I think we\u2019re offering something of real value to people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soneson notes that users can watch all the presentations or pick and choose the topics that most interest them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an academic institution,\u201d she adds, \u201cour mission is to educate, and we think we\u2019ve done that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new online tool designed to help patients maximize the quality of their health care is being offered through the Health Center. Believed to be the first of its kind, HealthEcademy is a convenient, free program that can be accessed through the Internet at any time of day or night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[45],"class_list":["post-1663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 00:16:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1663"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37270,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663\/revisions\/37270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1663"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=1663"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}