HHS-National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus Connect

The National Library of Medicine (part of NIH) launched MedlinePlus Connect on June 20, 2011. The innovative service allows health organizations and health information technology (HIT) providers to link patient portals and electronic health record (EHR) systems to MedlinePlus.gov. MedlinePlus covers a wide range of health conditions and wellness issues, and includes key resources to inform patients about their health.

MedlinePlus Connect Quick Facts:

• MedlinePlus Connect is free and does not require registration.
• You can link your certified EHR to MedlinePlus Connect to help you achieve one of the 10 menu set criteria for Meaningful Use of certified EHR technology.
• MedlinePlus Connect does not have to be used exclusively to link to patient education information. Many EHR systems can be configured to link to more than one source of consumer health information.
• You only need to implement MedlinePlus Connect once for the whole system; individual links do not need to be created.
• MedlinePlus Connect is not a replacement for MedlinePlus. It is a value-added service to bring MedlinePlus content to EHR systems and patient portals.