More employees are turning to their employers to be a resource for medical and health information. A survey from the nonprofit National Business Group on Health found three in four workers turned to their employer and health plan for medical and health information in 2010. It was a sharp increase from 54 percent in 2007. More than two-thirds of respondents (69 percent) rated their employers as completely, very or moderately trustworthy sources of heath information.

Meantime, the percent of workers who relied on their health plan for health and medical information increased from 67 percent in 2007 to 76 percent in 2010. Growing numbers of workers also relied on health-oriented websites while fewer workers sought information from doctor’s offices, published articles, prescription drug package inserts, pharmacists, and medical school, hospital and government websites. “Employees face great challenges in navigating a complex, fragmented and hard-to-access health care delivery system,” says Helen Daring, president and CEO of the National Business Group on Health.

“The amount of health care information that consumers need to sift through just to know what they should be doing seems endless and daunting. Our survey shows that workers want their employers to play a role in helping them access medical information about their health and how to make good treatment decisions from sources which are objective, trustworthy and reliable, such as the American Heart Association.”