Dear Colleagues: We are pleased to announce a new Johns Hopkins Institutions health division initiative that establishes a policy and set of guidelines meant to support and manage proposals to use the Hopkins "brand" on commercial health information services and products. We know, from many years of experience, that there is both risk and value associated with the use of the Hopkins name with commercial health information products. A major goal of the new initiative is to manage those risks appropriately, with greater transparency and with greater ease for those interested in such ventures. The “Guidelines for Branding Health Information Products,” which are effective immediately, were developed to encourage and facilitate creative, productive and financially rewarding use of the Hopkins name on both consumer and professional health information products, while at the same time protect the integrity and value of the Hopkins name and assure appropriate use of institutional resources. Applicable to the schools of Medicine, Nursing, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, the guidelines are consistent with existing policies on intellectual property licensing, conflict of interest, conflict of commitment, good business practices, research and educational activities. It’s important to note that this new initiative resulted from the year-long effort of a 20-member Task Force on Health Information, led by Peter Green, M.D., associate dean for emerging technologies and staffed by Julie Gottlieb, assistant dean for policy coordination. Faculty, staff and senior leadership from all health divisions addressed needed approaches to projects to be developed with institution-based funding, outside funding or as new business ventures. Moving forward, the new policy and guidelines will be administered by the just-formed Health Information Management Group (HIMG), which now incorporates and supercedes an older panel, established in 1996, to guide branding decisions for consumer-only health information. As of May 1, 2004, faculty, administrators, staff and students can submit their proposals for sponsored Hopkins-branded health information projects to HIMG, regardless of whether they are intended for a consumer or professional audience. Details of this initiative, including the full guidelines and the process for making proposals, can be found on the HIMG Web site, at www.hopkinsbrand.org. Daniel E. Ford, M.D., M.P.H., professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, Epidemiology, and Health Policy and Management, has agreed to serve as HIMG’s chair. Steve Libowitz, associate director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Corporate Communications and former chair of the consumer health information management group, will be HIMG’s administrative director. Finally, we want to thank Peter Greene and Julie Gottlieb for their many hours, both guiding this Task Force process to its positive conclusion and assisting in the transition from recommendation to working program. Martha Hill, Ph.D.
Edward D. Miller Jr., M.D.
Ronald R. Peterson
Michael J. Klag, M.D., M.H.S
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