Objectives: Health information for lay people in print or electronic format are internationally recognised as useful and important tool to help individuals making health decisions. The effectiveness of such consumer health information is dependent on their quality and accessibility. As large amounts of available health information often suffer from significant shortfalls, the Agency for Quality in Medicine (AQuMed) has developed a system to assess the quality of specialised health and medical information for non-medically trained persons, and to support health professionals in producing evidence based patient information. This system involves all stakeholders in the development, delivery and utilisation of reliable consumer health information.

Methods: The DISCERN criteria are the main basis for rating medical information for lay persons and the development of reliable health care information. Based on the DISCERN criteria the AQuMed and others developed and tested the "Extended DISCERN criteria of AQuMed and Patient Forum", taking into account the special characteristics of evidence based patient information and web based patient information. Partners of AQuMed in this process are the German Patient Forum, the Department of Epidemiology, Social Medicine and Public Health research of Hanover Medical School, the German Cochrane Centre, the Centre for Quality Management in Health Service of the Physicians' Chamber of Lower Saxony, the Independent Patient Advisory Centre in Bremen, the Citizen Information Service of the Physicians' Chamber of Westfalen-Lippe and the Division of Patient Information of the German Network for Evidence Based Medicine.

Results: The output of the German Patient Information Clearinghouse focus on the progeressive and further development of the DISCERN-Guidelines to ensure the methodological quality of patient information. Considered aspects are particularly clear scientific evidence, transparency in authorship and expert status and the inclusion of patients and lay people in the entire editorial process. Health information which passed all quality controls are published on the Website of the German Patient Information Clearinghouse (www.patienten-information.de). At present, the Internet-based Patient Information Service of AQuMed comprises of approximately 800 items, which have been pre-selected and appraised. These items cover fifty medical conditions and health topics. Partnerships with appropriate information providers and users have already been established and tested in specific projects.

Conclusion: To provide more evidence into health information for lay people it is essential to promote and foster the co-operation with stakeholders and partners at different levels. At the same time it is paramount to refine the instruments used to assess the quality of information gained from this co-operation. In addition, effective strategies need to be developed in order to make patients and / or consumers of health information aware of these endeavours and present the results in a user friendly and transparent way.