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HSTAT (Health Services / Technology Assessment Text)
Click here to view original press release.
Accession Number
A00154
Author
National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Library of Medicine (NLM)
Source
NIH Press Release
Release Date
April 1, 1994
Major Descriptors
HSTAT
Information sources
Topic
Information Sources
Guidelines
Text
The HSTAT (Health Services/Technology Assessment Text) electronic resource includes the full-text of clinical practice guidelines, quick-reference guides for clinicians, and consumer brochures developed under the auspices of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus development conference and technology assessment reports, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Guide to Clinical Preventive Services. AHCPR's technology assessment reports also will be available later in 1994.
Developed by the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Information Technology Branch of the Lister Hill Center, HSTAT is the latest component of the expanded Health Services Research Information Program coordinated by NLM's National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR); see NICHSR Fact Sheet, March 1994. NICHSR works closely with AHCPR to improve the organization and dissemination of the results of health services research, including practice guidelines and technology assessments.
Accessing HSTAT NLM provides free, electronic access to HSTAT through a number of different methods. To accommodate users with a range of computing and communications environments, users can access HSTAT using direct dial or the Internet. Internet users can reach HSTAT through telnet and ftp (file transfer protocol), or through software clients such as Gopher (for Gopher servers) and Mosaic (for World Wide Web servers).
Full-Text Retrieval System The NLM Full-Text Retrieval System (FTRS) provides a menu- driven interface to HSTAT, a table of contents for each document from which a particular section can be selected, and the ability to search by words or phrases. To access HSTAT via NLM's FTRS, users of Grateful Med (6.0 or higher) may obtain a script that will load a Grateful Med menu option for HSTAT. See the Grateful Med Bulletin Board or contact NICHSR for instructions or use the Internet to ftp the script from the nlmpubs/hstat/gmhstat directory on nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov. This script will accommodate modem access only. If you use a Novell communication server, if you use the Internet and do not have a modem locally attached to your computer, or if you are using Grateful Med for the Macintosh, you should use the other options for accessing HSTAT outlined below. (Access to HSTAT will be built into Grateful Med beginning in 1995.)
Users can also search HSTAT via the FTRS by telneting to text.nlm.nih.gov or by dialing 1-800-952-4426 and logging in as hstat or HSTAT. FTRS users need the ability to emulate a VT100 or VT102 terminal when telneting or dialing into the system.
Gopher Internet users may access HSTAT through the NLM Gopher which uses the Gopher server protocol developed at the University of Minnesota. The NLM Gopher is available from any Gopher client at the address gopher.nlm.nih.gov. Once connected to the NLM Gopher, select HSTAT from the menu. The Gopher menu makes it simple for users to browse HSTAT documents, search them by text word, and transfer them over the Internet for local use.
FTP NLM distributes many publications and software programs via anonymous ftp. Users can ftp HSTAT documents from the nlmpubs/hstat directory on nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov. The NLM publications server provides most documents in both plain text and PostScript formats. These two formats allow users to select either plain text files that contain all the textual information, or a PostScript file that allows printing the publication in its original format. Many of the clinical practice guidelines have graphics files (.gif) that must be transferred in binary mode.
Mosaic NLM also provides clinical guidelines and technology assessments through its World Wide Web servers. Users must have a Web client such as Mosaic that is available for UNIX, Macintosh, and PC Windows platforms. Mosaic and other Web clients provide access to hypertext documents composed of text, images, and sound. Through Mosaic, it is possible to view the text, graphics, and tables of clinical guidelines in a form which is very similar to the printed copy. Users must specify the URL http://www.nlm.nih.gov/. Select NLM Online Information Services, and then select HSTAT. Mosaic is available at no charge from NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) through anonymous ftp to ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu.
The current forms of accessing HSTAT are an initial step toward more user-friendly, integrated access to the full-text of practice guidelines in the context of a MEDLINE search or a computer-based patient record system. Individuals affiliated with a health sciences library may wish to consult their librarians for advice and assistance in making use of this new information source.
For additional information, contact:
National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR) National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20894 1-800-272-4787 (Select 1,6,3,2) (Voice) (301)496-0176 (Voice) (301)402-3193 (FAX) nichsr@nlm.nih.gov (Internet)
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