Skip to main content
. 2001 Dec 26;3(4):e28. doi: 10.2196/jmir.3.4.e28

Table 1.

Characterization of quality initiatives

Initiative Philosophy Mechanism Implementation Obligations Intended Beneficiary Sustainability Burden Bearer Enforcement
eHealth Code of Ethics Code of conduct Guidance Interpret and specify guiding principles

  • Citizens

  • Currency

  • Funding

  • Providers

  • Citizens

 None
HI-Ethics Third-party certification or Voluntary compliance with code of conduct Quality seal Comply with code of conduct

  • Consumers

  • Member companies

  • Currency

  • Market

  • Hi-E Inc

  • Providers

  • Citizens

  • Withdrawal of accreditation

  • Withdrawal of membership
URAC Third-party certification Accreditation process Comply with accreditation process

  • Companies

  • Cost

  • Acceptance

  • Providers

  • Citizens

 Withdrawal of accreditation
MedCERTAIN

  • Voluntary meta tags

  • Trust mark

  • Third-party certification

  • Meta tagging by provider

  • Citizen assesses based on tags or rating or Sees trust mark

  • Comply with vocabulary

  • Apply tags

  • Third-party certifiers use tags

  • Citizens

  • Currency

  • Acceptance

  • Human resources

  • Funding

  • Providers

  • Raters

  • Citizens

  • None

  • Withdrawal of accreditation (when site is rated by third party)
TNO QMIC Third-party certification Accreditation process Comply with accreditation process

  • Companies

  • Cost

  • Acceptance

  • Other Trusted Independent Parties (TIPs)

  • Providers

  • Citizens

 Withdrawal of accreditation
HON Code of conduct Quality seal Comply with code of conduct

  • Citizens

  • Currency

  • Market

  • Human resources

  • Funding

  • Providers

  • Citizens

 None
EC Quality Criteria Quality criteria Guidance Comply with criteria EU (European Union) member states

  • Relevance

  • Interpretation

  • Political commitment

  • Providers

  • Member states

  • Citizens

 None
OMNI Third-party evaluation based on quality criteria Manual filtering Comply with quality criteria Academe

  • Currency

  • Human resources

  • Funding

  • Raters

  • Providers

  • Citizens

 None
DISCERN Tool-based assessment Tool-based filtering Comply with quality criteria

  • Citizens

  • Currency

  • Providers

  • Citizens

 None
AMA Code of conduct Self-regulation of own sites Comply with code of conduct AMA

  • Currency

  • Providers

 Enforced by AMA
BHIA Code of conduct Guidance Comply with code

  • Citizens

  • Currency

  • Providers

  • Citizens

 None
HSWG IQ Tool Tool-based evaluation Tool-based rating Comply with quality criteria

  • Citizens

  • Currency

  • Funding

  • Providers

  • Citizens

 None
IFPMA Code of conduct Guidance Comply with code Member companies

  • Currency

  • Specificity

  • Providers

  • Citizens

 None