Google.org and Flu.gov Team Up for Awesomeness

Betsey Blanche — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:05:00 GMT

This year I have made a pledge to myself to get a flu shot for the very first time in my life (at least as far as I can remember). I haven't avoided it because of a fear of needles or conspiracy theories about how the government uses it to track people. But for whatever reason, this is the first year that I've sought out the vaccine.

We're lucky that there seems to be more than enough of the flu vaccine to go around this year. But where's a girl to go for such a thing? I was ready for it to be a long, annoying process involving lots of phone calls and confusing instructions. Gosh, sometimes it's great to be wrong.

Launched last year, Flu.gov is meant to act as a centralized place to find information about influenza and the flu vaccine. It offers many helpful FAQs on various flu-related topics and, you know what? It also looks good and is easy to navigate. Weird! But the real boon here is that Health and Human Services partnered with Google.org to make it easy for people to find flu vaccines near them. By entering your location in the Flu Vaccine Finder, users are provided with a map of nearby locations, their hours of operation, the cost, and a link with more information. So now, I am left with just about zero excuses. Suddenly I think I might actually be afraid of needles.

HealthCare.gov: An (Impressive) Work in Progress

Betsey Blanche — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:51:00 GMT

Health Care reform was the big news item for months before it actually came to fruition. But now what? After all the debates and the compromise, what changes can you look forward to? I'm so glad you asked! (okay, so I asked. But maybe you were at least curious?)

To find the answers to these and other questions, head to HealthCare.gov. The site provides a brief overview of the policy, a timeline of when each part will take effect, overall goals of the re-haul, and a place to shop for insurance plans. At this point the strongest piece of the site is the actually summary of the legislation which contains an overwhelming number of parts. Changes in Medicare, an emphasis on prevention, technological improvements to record-keeping, changes to how individuals interact with insurance companies, etc. It's a dizzyingly long list of things for the average person to keep track of but is broken down nicely on the government site. I'm impressed, which is a rare thing from a government web site.

Where the site falls short currently is the tool to help users find Insurance Options. Although, users can pull up a list of potential insurance plans that suit their needs, the site doesn't provide price estimates in one convenient place yet. These price estimates are slated to become available in October of this year which will be a valuable addition to the site.

Check it out and share your thoughts in the comments section below!

You may also be interested in checking out this New York Times calculator to see how the policy will affect you!

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Google.org and Flu.gov Team Up for Awesomeness

HealthCare.gov: An (Impressive) Work in Progress