“Patient Portals”

“According to the Deloitte 2008 Survey of Health Care Consumers, over 70 percent of consumers want their hospital to provide online access to an integrated view of their medical information, including test results, doctor visits and hospital stays. Yet the percentage of hospitals that have deployed a true patient portal is still in the single digits.”
Article
Peter Kuhn, Acumeme, 8 October 2008

Paging Dr. Google! We Are Waiting for a Second Opinion.

“In case any of you have missed this, the web with the help of “Dr. Google” is a major source of medical information for a broad swath of healthcare consumers in the U.S. Whenever I make this point to clinicians, the response from a few is always: Tisk, tisk. What a shame. There is so much bad stuff out there. To which I usually reply: Uhhh, there’s also a few bad docs. Informed patients can help to weed them out.”
Article
Bruce Friedman, Lab Soft News, 9 October 2008

Webicina: Let the discussion begin

“After months of hard work, today we launched Webicina officially, an online service that aims to help medical professionals and patients enter the web 2.0 era.
Please visit our site and register to get access to the free e-courses and to see what kind of services we provide.”
Article
Bertalan Meskó, ScienceRoll, 7 October 2008

Webicina

Health 1.0 vs. 2.0: The Ix Role in the Consumer Portal Shakeout?

“Everyday Health and Revolution Health have announced their merger, creating a consumer health Web site designed to challenge WebMD. The new company will operate under the name Waterfront Media.
There’s no doubt that they will get a lot of consumer traffic to their network of sites. One of the things that remains unclear for both Waterfront and WebMD is to what extent they will serve primarily as reference sources versus playing a greater role in consumers’ own health management. The answer may very well lie in the degree to which they provide information therapy (Ix), not just health information.”
Article
Josh Seidman, PCHIT Blog, 3 October 2008

Health Web Sites Merger to Challenge WebMD

“Privately held online health sites Revolution Health Network and Waterfront Media agreed to merge in a deal that could challenge WebMD Health Corp’s dominance in the health care space.”
Article
eWeek.com, 3 October 2008

You’re Sick. Now What? Knowledge Is Power.

“Are patients swimming in a sea of health information? Or are they drowning in it?
The rise of the Internet, along with thousands of health-oriented Web sites, medical blogs and even doctor-based television and radio programs, means that today’s patients have more opportunities than ever to take charge of their medical care. Technological advances have vastly increased doctors’ diagnostic tools and treatments, and have exponentially expanded the amount of information on just about every known disease.”
Article
Tara Parker-Pope, New York Times, 29 September 2008

Logging On for a Second (or Third) Opinion

“When Terri Nelson learned she had a large fibroid tumor in her uterus, she went online.
There is nothing new in that, of course. The intrepid and the adept were going to the Web for health information as long ago as the 1980s, well before Google and other search engines made it accessible to a wider audience.”
Article
John Schwartz, New York Times, 29 September 2008

Parkinson’s Disease Information Added to NIHSeniorHealth Web Site

“More than half a million Americans suffer from Parkinson’s disease, a brain disorder that leads to tremor and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination. Although not a normal part of aging, Parkinson’s occurs most often among people 60 and older, and the risk increases with age. Older adults now can visit the NIHSeniorHealth Web site to learn more about Parkinson’s disease at www.nihseniorhealth.gov/parkinsonsdisease/toc.html. The Web site from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is geared toward older adults and features clear language.”
Article
NIHNews, 29 September 2008

For Sale: Revolution Health

“Why is Steve Case’s online health venture already looking to sell itself, just a year and a half after it launched? Yet another tale of hubris in the e-health sector.”
Article
John Grohol, e-Patients.net, 19 September 2008

WebMD Targets Marketing with QualityHealth Acquisition

“Anyone who has listened to a recent WebMD quarterly results webcast clearly understands where WebMD sees growth. Not too surprisingly, it is not PHRs via customized portal solutions for payers and employers, despite them having over 250 clients including such household names as EMC, IBM, WellPoint and numerous BCBS plans.”
Article
John Moore, Chilmark Research, 15 september 2008

Everyday a Revolution Health or How 1+1=1.5

“The Washington Post had a brief article yesterday of a rumor that local Health 2.0 darling, Revolution Health is in merger talks with Everyday Health.
Based upon my cursory review of Everyday Health and knowledge of Revolution Health, these two look like a carbon copy of one another - lots of female targeted ads, simple content on dieting, some social networking/community capabilities and even simpler tools for health management. Thus, such a merger will unlikely result in a 1+1=3 scenario where each brings something unique to the other, but more of a 1+1=1.5, were the value is in the small uptick in number of users/impressions that can then be sold/marketed to advertisers. But even here I see very little value in this merger. One need only do a quick comparison of the demographics of users visiting each site (here, I’ve done it for you: Everyday Health and Revolution Health) to see that there is a huge overlap.”
Article
John Moore, Chilmark Research, 11 September 2008

Revolution Health in Merger Talks

“Revolution Health Network, the online health-care business launched by former AOL chairman Steve Case, is in discussions to merge with Everyday Health, a marriage that would join two of the three most-visited online health information networks.”
Article
Thomas Heath, Washington Post, 10 September 2008

Health information Web sites outpace growth of Internet

“Health information Web sites drew 69 million unique visitors in July, up 21 percent from a year ago.
That’s according to data from Reston, Va.-based comScore. The total U.S. Internet audience has grown by 5 percent over the past year. WebMD Health continues to lead the category with 17 million unique visitors in July, but its growth has slowed to an annual rate of just 3 percent.”
Article
Jeff Clabaugh, Baltimore Business Journal, 9 September 2008

Rhön Klinikum says EPR key to particle therapy

“German hospital group Rhön Klinikum AG, believes its new web-based electronic patient record will be a key success factor for its €120m new centre for particle therapy.
To cover expenses, the specialist facility will need to attract patients from all over Germany and possibly across Europe. The managers of Rhön Klinikum hope that the electronic patient record will enable the group to attract and treat the volumes of patients required and make the workflows more efficient.”
Article
e-Health Europe, 10 September 2008

The Alternative Route: Hanging Out The Unmentionables For Better Decision Making In Health Information Technology

“Expert panels and policy analysts have often ignored potential contributions to health information technology (IT) from the Internet and Web-based applications. Perhaps they are among the “unmentionables” of health IT. Ignoring those unmentionables and relying on established industry experts has left us with a standards process that is complex and burdened by diverse goals, easy for entrenched interests to dominate, and reluctant to deal with potentially disruptive technologies. We need a health IT planning process that is more dynamic in its technological forecasting and inclusive of IT experts from outside the industry.”
Abstract
David C. Kibbe and Curtis P. McLaughlin, Health Affairs, 27, no. 5 (2008): w396-w398, doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.27.5.w396

Electronic health record information online

“A new Web site is available to help West Virginians understand electronic health records.
Many doctors and health clinics are switching patients’ medical records from paper to digital format. The eHealthWV project (www.eHealthWV.org) is designed to educate consumers about electronic records.”
Article
The Charleston Gazette, 3 September 2008

Will PHRs rule the waves or roll out with the tide?

“Rick Schooler, vice president and chief information officer of the Orlando (Fla.) Regional Health System, a seven-hospital network, has high hopes for electronic personal health records. In the future, he believes, portable, patient-controlled, Web-based PHRs will form the basis for regional and national health information networks and give providers access to comprehensive health data on each patient.”
Article
Ken Terry, H&HN, August 2008

Unique Medical Simulation in Second Life!

“We organize medical exercises and meetings at the Ann Myers Medical Center in Second Life. Now the e-Learning Faculty of Imperial College London created a spectacular and useful Second Life tool in medical education. Here are some screenshots that can describe what the learning process looks like.
Article
Bertalan Meskó, ScienceRoll, 17 August 2008

Gov. Kaine announces launch of Virginia Easy Access

“Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced an online resource especially designed for seniors and adults with disabilities.”
Article
NewsLeader.com, 13 August 2008

Website logs student drinking habits

“Health researchers at the University of Leeds have developed a website that encourages students to keep track of their drinking.
Unitcheck encourages young people to check how many units they are consuming, how this affects their health, and how their drinking compares with that of their peers.
A pilot scheme funded by the European Research Advisory Board found people who used the site drank approximately one unit less on each occasion they drank, and that lower levels of alcohol consumption persisted over three months.”
Article
e-Health Insider, 10 August 2008

California farmworkers will have Web-based PHRs

“About 5,000 migrant farmworkers and their families will have personal health records in the next nine months in a project funded by the California government.
The records will be available to patients via a Web portal. They have the option of allowing their doctors to view and update their records via a similar portal. All access is password-controlled.”
Article
Nancy Ferris, Government Health IT, 6 August 2008

Diabetes Online Health Guide Released on NHS Choices

“An online NHS health Guide for people with diabetes has been launched on the national NHS website, NHS Choices http://www.nhs.uk.
The guide, http://www.nhs.uk/Pathways/diabetes/Pages/Landing.aspx,takes patients through each stage, from before diagnosis, through to howto live and self-manage the condition. Throughout the next year, NHS Choiceswill be rolling out more guides from the 60 most common long-term conditions,giving people the information they require to make their own choices and decisions about their treatment.”
Article
Explain Health, 3 August 2008

CGP says good GPs have great websites

“The ‘exemplary GP’ has a clear and accurate practice website and seeks patient’s consent before giving sensitive information to other healthcare professionals, according to the latest guidance on good medical practice for GPs.”
Article
e-Health Insider Primary Care, 29 July 2008

Reaching and Teaching Teens: Adolescent Health Literacy and the Internet

“Virtually 100% of American teens have access to the Internet either at home, school, libraries, or elsewhere, and the majority are using it daily. The Internet has become one of the most important vehicles to educate and inform young people about health and medical issues. However, many teens have limited searching skills or problems with literacy and other issues that may make it difficult for them to locate and understand authoritative information. Parents, teachers, school nurses, health professionals, librarians, and Web designers who impact teenagers’ health knowledge and skill development in information seeking, health decision making, and health literacy should be aware of the issues in dealing with this unique group and should also be familiar with quality health resources on the Web.”
Abstract
Elaine N. Skopelja, Elizabeth C. Whipple, Peggy Richwine, Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, Volume: 12, Issue: 2, 105 - 118, DOI: 10.1080/15398280802121406

Web Site Demystifies Lab Tests

“For many Americans, the meanings of various lab tests have long been the Bermuda Triangle of health care: poorly explained and often mysterious.
Enter a nonprofit Web site from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) called Lab Tests Online. It offers patients easy access to detailed but consumer-friendly information on lab work and test results.”
Article
Alan Mozes, Yahoo!, 25 July 2008

Medicine meets Wiki

“There’s a new wiki in the health social media town, Medpedia.
Among the most popular online sources for health information is Wikipedia. Millions of people search Wikipedia daily for insights into medical conditions, drugs, and procedures. Medpedia estimates it will cover information on at least 30,000 conditions/diseases and 10,000 drugs.”
Article
Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, The Health Care Blog, 24 July 2008

Medipedia or Knol, doc?

“Anonymous prestige or money and fame?
That’s the choice doctors who write face today as Medpedia approaches its launch date and Google announces the launch of Knol.”
Article
Dana Blankenhorn, ZDNet health, 24 July 2008

Google opens Knol website, a wiki with bylines

“Google Inc opened its website Knol to the public on Wednesday, allowing people to write about their areas of expertise under their bylines in a twist on encyclopedia Wikipedia, which allows anonymity.
“We are deeply convinced that authorship — knowing who wrote what — helps readers trust the content,” said Cedric DuPont, product manager for Knol.”
Article
Reuters, 23 July 2008

Knol Website

BCBSNC makes eRx more available with partnership, new Web site

“Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is partnering with Community Care of North Carolina and its 14 regional healthcare networks in a statewide e-prescribing launch, which includes the debut of its new e-prescribing Web site.”
Article
Molly Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 23 July 2008

Using professional societies to advance participatory medicine

“Professional medical societies are not quite like the secret society Skull and Bones at Yale University, but they may well look that way to many patients.
In most cases, their sole reason for being is to serve their members in a pretty narrowly defined way. These services generally include continuing medical education programs, an annual meeting, promoting research, advocating for public and political awareness of the value of the specialty, providing resources to support clinical practice, and more mundane perks like access to group insurance (malpractice and otherwise).”
Article
Daniel Hoch, The Health Care Blog, 22 July 2008