AHRQ announces audio newscast series: Healthcare 411
AHRQ has a new service to help keep you informed of the Agency's latest health care research findings, news, and information. It's Healthcare 411—a weekly audio newscast that features synopses of our latest findings and information on current health care topics. This innovative tool will provide AHRQ researchers with an opportunity to be heard beyond the research community. Go to www.healthcare411.org to hear the newscasts through your computer or download them to a portable digital player such as an iPod®.
The first audio newscast was a Special Report with AHRQ Director Dr. Carolyn Clancy answering questions about health care quality. She discussed preventive care, medical errors, and what people can do to ensure they get quality health care. Regular newscasts include short audio reports on a variety of AHRQ-supported research and always include an interview with one of the researchers. Each Healthcare 411 newscast is about 10 to 15 minutes long. All new and archived newscasts remain available on the Healthcare 411 site.
The technology of this newscast is often called podcasting, which is a way of making a radio-type broadcast available on demand. If your computer has a sound card and speakers and can play mp3 audio files, you will be able to listen to the audio on your computer. But if you want to receive all AHRQ newscasts automatically, you will need subscription software. The AHRQ subscription is free.
In addition to our Healthcare 411 Web site, the weekly newscasts will be distributed through Apple® iTunes®, Yahoo® PodCasts, and other Web sites that provide health information to their customers, patients, students, employees, or health care personnel. Parts of the audio newscasts also are being used by the Department of Health and Human Services' new radio service, Healthbeat, and are being distributed to radio stations across the country as well as audio networks within stores such as Giant Food and Wal-Mart.
Additional information on our newscasts, podcasting, and subscriber software can be found on the Healthcare 411 Web site (www.healthcare411.org).
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