Washington DC, June 30, 2008 - The Portuguese Society of Clinical Chemistry (SPQC) has agreed to develop a Portuguese version of Lab Tests Online, the award-winning patient education website developed in the United States by the laboratory community and produced by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC). SPQC becomes the third national laboratory society this year to commit to translating the highly regarded website. The other two versions are being developed in Greece and the Czech Republic.
Through the first five months of 2008, Lab Tests Online sites around the world hosted more than eight million visitors. Outside of the US, Lab Tests Online sites are already live in the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, and Australia. Once the sites in Portugal, Greece, and the Czech Republic launch, Lab Tests Online will be available to patients in nine languages and eleven countries.
Under a license agreement with AACC, the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association (EDMA) has spearheaded the launch of translated versions of Lab Tests Online in Europe. Working with national industry associations in each country, EDMA has been instrumental in obtaining the active participation of SPQC in Portugal and other national laboratory societies in the participating nations. A list of the Collaborating Partners – those laboratory organizations that have collaborated on the editorial development of Lab Tests Online – can be found here.
EDMA supports the new sites on the continent with a common technology platform, and has gained the endorsement of the European Commission. The Commission’s health portal offers links to the European versions of the site. In the US, the National Institutes of Health’s MedlinePlus® refers more users to Lab Tests Online than any other non-search site.
While editorial responsibility for the sites rests with the national societies in the respective countries, AACC provides the editorial policies and guidelines to which they must adhere. Editorial liaisons from each site, as well as site administrators, collaborate via an online platform for discussion and file sharing. The platform has mostly been used for distributing new and modified content among the network of sites. The editorial liaisons also meet twice a year to address specific editorial concerns and share marketing and promotional ideas and experience.