Ozmosis vs Sermo: Answers April 11, 2008
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Community Site, Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Web 2.0.trackback
Two weeks ago, I wrote about a new physician-only community site, Ozmosis.com, but I wanted to know why it is better than or how different it is from Sermo.com, the most famous physician-only community site.
The founders were really nice to answer my question:
Ozmosis and Sermo are not mutually exclusive, however, pysicians will be members of both communities for different reasons. Ozmosis provides a trusted environment where physicians are presented with the most relevant information as soon as they log in and benefit from a business model that is dedicated to aligning interests within the healthcare industry.
While there is an enormous amount of medical information accessible online, it can be of questionable accuracy and reliability. On Ozmosis, physicians know exactly where information comes from and can quickly determine the trustworthiness of the source. Unlike Sermo, Ozmosis is not an anonymous site and Ozmosis physicians are properly verified and clearly identified. Members can quickly recognize and interact with trusted colleagues anywhere on the site through profile snapshots (see below) and rely on the information being exchanged.
As a “Knowledge Exchange”, physicians on Ozmosis have access to a variety of options to bookmark and post content from anywhere on the Web or to submit their own questions or clinical cases. Ozmosis organizes and links the content each physician shares so when a physician logs in, they are immediately presented with the most relevant and compelling insights and discussions from the community. Members can search PubMed articles and filter through content from Ozmosis all through one powerful search interface. They may also create personalized alerts to be kept abreast of issues and topics that are of interest to them. Ozmosis offers a number of other features exclusively to its members that make it a unique and fun environment for physicians.
In keeping with its mission to benefit physicians and improve patient care, Ozmosis delivers a unique business model that enables physicians to discover new products and services. Instead of selling pharmaceutical companies access to peer over a physician’s shoulder, physicians on Ozmosis can choose to learn about healthcare products and services from other physicians in a trusted environment. Ozmosis maintains a strict privacy policy and product discovery areas are “opt-in” for physicians.
It’s up to you to choose…
Sermo is only open to physicians (MD or DO) currently practicing in the United States. This is not very useful for medical students.
[...] Sermo.com, the most famous physician-only community site. The founders were really nice to answer myhttp://scienceroll.com/2008/04/11/ozmosis-vs-sermo-answers/REMINDER: ORLive Presents: Delta XtendTM Reverse Shoulder System New Design Reverses Anatomy of the [...]
They also tell podiatric surgeons to shove it!
[...] Ozmosis vs Sermo: Answers [...]
As a member of both, I’ve found that ozmosis is more “engaged”, in the sense that there are a lot less empty discussions. Post a question in the ozmosis clinical or journal area, you will elicit several responses. Sermo, I wonder if anyone is there sometimes. Still, I am fans of both, and I would suggest all physicians sign up for both of them and explore…
[...] Ozmosis vs Sermo: Answers « ScienceRoll. Posted by Noshir Contractor / Filed under:Uncategorized [...]
These both seem forward-looking platforms for collaborating with several obvious benefits – with more experienced physicians sharing their knowledge with those less experienced and in return learning new approaches and techniques that more recently trained physicians may be more familiar with.
Considering this, I am curious if people would have expected a higher amount of traction or enrollment for both Sermo and Ozmosis at this time?
And considering the trust factor, do the benefits still outweigh any risks in open anonymous or identified collaboration and information sharing?
I am sure this valuable collaboration can has much room to grow. Consider counterparty sites, like one for lawyers, and you might agree. At the one for lawyers, situations are presented and free discussion and advice is given, and options for more in-depth legal counsel are also made. It seems a win-win, where the whole community gets better informed.