OrganizedWisdom Health Blog

New Research Shows How Social Media Is Impacting Health Search

We're looking forward to digging into this new research report just released from Envision Solutions: Diving Deeper Into Online Search. 

The research provides new information about why Americans trust health content they find online and documents how Internet health seekers are exposed to a significant amount of user-generated media (i.e., blogs, wikis and online bulletin boards) and frequent Websites developed by government, non-profits and corporations.

 

Compiled from Hitwise data taken between December 2006 and January 2007, this research was inspired by a Pew Internet & American Life Project report indicating that “three-quarters of Internet users who look online for [health] advice do not consistently check the source and date of [content] they find online.” 

Following are some of the key findings of the study: 

• Internet users’ exposure to health-related user-generated media is significant: Out of 16 queries Envision Solutions conducted on Yahoo and Google (using popular health/medical keywords), UGM appeared on the first three pages of searches 88% of the time.
  
• Online health searchers are relying on government, corporate and non-profit produced Websites for information:  For example, 32% of those who typed “diabetes” into major search engines went to the American Diabetes Association’s Website www.diabetes.org.
  
• In certain cases, wikis and blogs are receiving significant traffic:  Five percent of those searching online for information about the antidepressant Lexapro between mid-December 2006 and mid-January 2007 went to CrazyMeds.org.  This is a popular blog that provides information about the safety and efficacy of psychiatric medications.   

To download a free copy of the study report, please go to http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com/healthsearch.html.

Microsoft Dives Into Healthcare And Acquires Medstory

Some highlights from Steve Lohr's NYTimes article, Microsoft to Acquire Health Search Engine:

• The Medstory purchase, according to Microsoft, was a first step in a broader company strategy to assemble technologies that will “improve the consumer experience in health care.
• The Microsoft move comes at a time of increased investment in online health ventures, rising traffic at consumer health sites on the Web and profits at the most popular sites.
• WebMD, the leading health-related site, last week reported strong quarterly profit of $8.9 million on revenue of $80.6 million, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations. The stock price of WebMD — an Internet pioneer in health information that struggled for years — has surged in the last year.
• Aging baby boomers, fond of personal choice and technologically literate, tend to want a say in their treatment decisions. And the Internet is already an important source of health information. Eight million people in the United States go online for health information every day, according to a study last year by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a nonprofit group.
• The longer-range goal is to link personal information like age, sex, drug regimens, family history and even genetic markers to search. The ideal is that search results are tailored individually, identifying treatments, drug interactions and medical journal articles of interest.

Physicians Are Encourgaged To Embrace Trend of Online Social Networking For Health

A new article  just out on CMP's ConsultantLive.com, a leading site for primary care physicians highlights the trend of online social networking and features OrganizedWisdom among others who are helping to develop tools and sites to foster these communities.

Online Social Networking Brings Further Change to Doctor-patient Relationships by Sara Selis, Online Associate Editor, CMPMedica USA.

A new generation of healthcare Web sites is connecting patients to each other, allowing them to share information and advice on virtually any medical condition. Despite concerns over some sites' accuracy and credibility, physicians are encouraged to accept, even embrace, the trend.

The Internet has become such a central part of modern life that most physicians are accustomed to patients coming into their offices with thick printouts of information they've found online.

Now, a new generation of healthcare Web sites, following the "social networking" model of sites like MySpace and Facebook, is taking online health content to another level.

These interactive Web sites (see Related Links) -- ranging from efforts by medical societies like the American Cancer Society and the National MS Society, to venture capital-backed startups with names like OrganizedWisdom, DailyStrength and Revolution Health -- not only provide expert medical content, but also connect patients to each other through disease-specific online communities, virtual support groups, real-time Web chats, and other features whereby patients share experiences and advice, and even rate their doctors. Many of the sites feature educational videos and health-assessment quizzes. Others offer an online "personal health record," along with tools that track patients' health goals (such as blood sugar and exercise goals) or send users e-mailed reminders to get recommended health screenings.

As these sites move into the mainstream, they're affecting how patients get health information and advice, how they manage their medical conditions, and how they interact with their doctors.

Click here to read the complete article on ConsultantLive.com.

OrganizedWisdom Welcome Videos

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JupiterResearch: Significant buzz exists around social marketing and consumer-created content in the healthcare industry

JupiterResearch published a new online health report yesterday on the impact of social media in healthcare.

This is an important report because it is the first study that we've seen to assess the importance of "Health Connectors."  Health Connectors, like patient advocates and physician experts, are becoming a powerful and important force in impacting people's health decisions.

The report also answers these questions:

• How many online consumers connect with one another about health issues, and to what extent does this activity threaten or benefit health stakeholders?

• How do health connectors communicate as well as create, consume, and share content, and how does this activity impact marketing strategy?

• How can publishers increase the number and engagement of health connectors?

• Percentage of Online Health Connectors and Share of Online Users Who Looked for Health Information Online

• Types of One-to-One and Social Media Online Users Leverage

• Reasons Online Health Connectors Used the Internet to Connect with Others

• Percentage of Online Users Who Create and Consume Health Content Leveraging One-to-One and Social Media

• Percentage of Online Health Connectors Who Use One-to-One and Social Media in Combination and Exclusively

• Degree of Sources' Influence on Online Users' Decisions to Take Prescription Drugs

• Characteristics of Online Health Connectors, Compared with Average Online Users

• Drivers and Inhibitors of Growth and Engagement of Online Health Connector Audience

• Example of Site Featuring Health Specialists

• Features Encouraging Interaction with Others Online

You Shared Feedback...We Listened!

We just launched several new features on OrganizedWisdom. We'll be tweaking and improving the site over the coming hours and days, so we appreciate your continued feedback.

We're really excited to share with you some great new features that we think will provide a lot of value to our members:

Create Your Own Health Topic (New!)
Now you can create a WisdomCard on any health topic.  You can either search our library of 6,500 pre-loaded health topics including most health conditions, diseases, drugs, treatments and other health issues.  If you don't find your health topic, you can easily create your own topic and begin sharing.

Private Messaging Let's You Connect With Others (New!)
You can now connect with other members using our private messaging system. This system makes it easy for people to offer advice and support without giving their real email address.  You can quickly contact anyone you are linked to directly, or anyone who has granted permission on their published WisdomCards.

Post Public Comments on WisdomCards (New!)
All registered members can now comment on other WisdomCards to add value to others wisdom by providing support, answering questions, and posting helpful feedback.  It's now as easy as posting a comment on a blog to get involved and help others.

Advanced Profile Features (New!)
We've added additional content fields to help you improve your personal profile page.  Share your experience level, more Web site links, and contact details if you are ok with people contacting you directly. Don't worry, only you decide what information you want to share. And you can choose to keep all of your information private and anonymous if you prefer.

Link Friends On Your Personal Profile (New!)
Invite your friends to join your personal health network and save their personal profile to yours. You can also connect to other people in the OrganizedWisdom community who have published public WisdomCards. Simply press the Save Author Profile icon on any WisdomCard or Profile Page.

New Privacy Features (New!)
Respecting personal privacy and creating a safe environment is our number one priority.  You are in total control on OrganizedWisdom.  You can decide to create an anonymous profile, make all of your saved WisdomCards, Medical References, and linked friends private, and you can decide to publish WisdomCards anonymously. 

Inviting Friends and Family Is Easy (New!)
Use our new Invite feature to quickly invite yoru friends and family to join the OrganizedWisdom community and your personal network.

Clean New Homepage (New!)
A lot of people have suggested we do a better job of showing more of the great content, features, and community that is hiding behind the homepage.  So, we've started by adding a welcome video, and featuring some member profiles, popular WisdomCards and some of the top health topics on the site. 

Easy Search On Every Page (New!)
We've redesigned our site header to make it easy to search for user WisdomCards and expert medical research from any page on the site. Enter any health term and you will get the top three WisdomCards, and top three health articles on that topic.  If you want more, click one button to see all the best content available, or search our A-Z health guides.

To keep you updated on our new and upcoming features you can read our Change Log.

You can also take our site tour here, which we will be updating shortly: http://tour.organizedwisdom.com

Health Wisdom Podcast #5: Joshua Seidman

Joshua Seidman, President of the Center for Information Therapy, participated in our most recent Health Wisdom Podcast where we feature people working to push for innovations in health care. 

Beyond covering the basics like the goals of The Center for Information Therapy and the information therapy movement, we focused on how new technologies, social media, and "connected" patients are impacting the quality of the information available and how people are getting information. 

Download the 25 minute podcast here: Download JoshuaSeidman.mp3

You can also read Joshua Seidman's new blog here, and find out about how to help promote information therapy and get involved with the IX Action Alliance at www.ixcenter.org.

(Technical glitch note: there is a slight delay between question and answer. For some reason the audio overlaps and leaves pauses between questions.  We will post transcripts in the near future).