Evaluating CMS.gov Website for Credibility
Medicare and Medicaid information can be overwhelming and confusing to both the consumer and the healthcare professional. The information highway known as the World Wide Web (WWW) can provide the answers to questions about these government benefits, but getting clear, informative and accurate knowledge can be overwhelming. O’Sullivan (2011) identified the WWW as “a primary repository for health information for the medically naïve yet technically savvy healthcare consumer.” One internet website that provides information about Medicare and Medicaid is CMS.gov ("Cms.gov centers for”). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the United States agency that administers Medicare, …show more content…

There are no advertisements on the CMS.gov website. The website does not promote products, endorse companies, or make claims about services. The sole purpose of the website is to educate the public about the government services provided by the Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP programs. The information is presented in an easily understood, factual and objective manner.
Evaluation of ease of navigation
Website navigation must be functional and usable (Yong-Mi, 2011). The visual appearance is also important to help the website user locate the information with a simple “click”. The information should be well organized and placed in groupings or headings.
The CMS.gov website is easy to navigate. The headings are clearly labeled and the contents are easy to open and read. There are headings and dropdown menus that identify the contents in each subheading. The website is hyper-linked to other government websites under the umbrella of the CMS, such as Medicare.gov and Medicaid.gov, promoting easy navigation.
Evaluation of privacy and security A reliable website will not request information or require membership. If personal information is requested, it should be clear how the information will be used.
CMS.gov has a privacy policy that clearly identifies website user rights. It informs the user that “cookies” are enabled and how the cookies will be used. There is a section in the policy that instructs the user on how to remove the cookies. The website