More employees are turning to their employers to be a resourcefor medical and health information. A survey from the nonprofitNational BusinessGroup on Health found three in four workers turned to theiremployer and health plan for medical and health information in2010. It was a sharp increase from 54 percent in 2007. More thantwo-thirds of respondents (69 percent) rated their employers ascompletely, very or moderately trustworthy sources of heathinformation.

Meantime, the percent of workers who relied on their health planfor health and medical information increased from 67 percent in2007 to 76 percent in 2010. Growing numbers of workers alsorelied on health-oriented websites while fewer workers soughtinformation from doctor’s offices, published articles, prescriptiondrug package inserts, pharmacists, and medical school, hospital andgovernment websites. “Employees face great challenges in navigatinga complex, fragmented and hard-to-access health care deliverysystem,” says Helen Daring, president and CEO of the NationalBusiness Group on Health.

“The amount of health care information that consumers need to sift throughjust to know what they should be doing seems endless and daunting.Our survey shows that workers want their employers to play a rolein helping them access medical information about their health andhow to make good treatment decisions from sources which areobjective, trustworthy and reliable, such as the American HeartAssociation.”