The first online doctors May 31, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in eHealth, Health, Health 2.0, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Online Doc, Web 2.0.12 comments
Who has never heard about Jay Parkinson, founder of HelloHealth service, the first online medical practice? Now please meet Dr. Hodge, the first iPhone doctor.
Hodge’s start-up Personal Pediatrics aims to equip a fleet of self-starter pediatricians in major metro areas with iPhones, cloud-based practice software and the marketing know-how to court new parents, families and corporate health programs alike. The company’s plan points to a growing trend of doctors returning to what was once a mainstay of the profession: the house call.
Hodge has already established that the iPhone doctor model works — after more than a decade working in a pediatrics office in St. Louis, Missouri, where she saw up to 35 patients a day for about 10 minutes each, Hodge traded in the patient assembly line to launch Personal Pediatrics. That was three years ago. Back then she had her laptop and Palm Treo in tow.
I have to mention one thing first. The whole health 2.0 movement is not about transforming the healthcare system into an online service, but there are more and more people who want to reach healthcare services through online or mobile applications, and doctors must need their expectations as well.
If there are no patients who want to be online, no doctors will build such services. That’s how it works.
Further reading:
Scienceroll.com: Weekly Introduction February 28, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Blog Carnival, Blogging, Community Site, e-patient, e-Science, Education, eHealth, Gene Genie, Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Innovation, List, Medical education, Medical Search, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Medicine 2.0 Course, Microcarnival, Online Doc, PeRSSonalized Medicine, science, Scienceroll, Scienceroll Search, Web 2.0, Webicina.Tags: Blog Carnival, Blogging, Health, Medicine, Video, web2.0, Webicina
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I would like to share my favourite and ongoing projects with you so I can give you a proper introduction to Scienceroll.com.
Medicine 2.0 University Course: This is the second semester of the first university course that focuses on web 2.0 and medicine for medical students. Last semester, almost 50 students attended the 20 slideshows through 10 weeks and they filled a survey out before and after the course. I launched the second semester for English-speaking students (February – May, 2009). I’m open to launch the same course in Second Life.
Medicine 2.0 Collection: I maintain the biggest collection of links and posts focusing on web 2.0 and medicine.
Webicina.com is my service that aims to help medical professionals and patients enter the web 2.0 era by providing them with e-courses, consulting and personalized packages.
PeRSSonalized Medicine is a free tool that lets you select your favourite resources and read the latest news and articles in one personalized place. You can create your own “medical journal” and as we are totally open to suggestions, let us add the journals, blogs and websites that you would like to follow.
Diabetes 2.0 Package: If you would like to know which web 2.0 tools can provide support or reliable health information, which communities to join and which quality blogs to read, this personalized package is made for you.
Scienceroll Search is a personalized medical search engine powered by PolyMeta search and clustering engine. You can choose which databases to search in and which one to exclude from your list. It works with well-known medical search engines and databases and we’re totally open to add new ones or remove those you don’t really like.
Medicine 2.0 Blog Carnival and Microvarnival: The blog carnival focusing on web 2.0 and medicine. Let me know if you have a submission or if you want to host an edition.
Gene Genie is the blog carnival of genes, personalized genomics and gene-related diseases. Our plan is to cover the whole genome before 2082 (it means 14-15 genes every two weeks). Let me know if you have a submission or if you want to host an edition.
List of biomedical and scientific community sites: More than 30 communities with links, descriptions and screenshots.
List of Biomedical video sites: Almost 40 sites featuring scientific or medical videos and videocasts.
Patients praise and pan virtual doctor visit February 16, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in eHealth, Health, Health 2.0, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Online Doc, Web 2.0.9 comments
iMarketingInsights has a great article about the pros and cons of online doctor-patient visits. As I mentioned in one of my recent posts, there are numerous ways a patient can see a doctor online. I truly recommend you to follow their iMedHealth channel as well.
According to findings released from an January 2009 survey of online US adults by Prophis Research, many see the benefits of convenience and time-savings aspects and think that the concept in general is fantastic.
However, there are also many detractors who are not convinced. The same research shows that almost as many online adults with health care coverage have an initially negative impression of the concept.
Image source: iMarketingInsights
Almost 50-50. Is this a problem? Absolutely not. The changes that can happen in healthcare only depend on the needs of e-patients. If they want to have a doctor who can “see” them online, there will be such doctors (e.g. Hello Health).
But there always be patients (fortunately) who are afraid of the online world and want to see the doctor in real life. They will have their own doctors too.
Too much fuss here. It’s not about the technology, but about the needs of e-patients.
This survey provides us with a lot of useful information about it.
The Bridge: Do you want to change healthcare? December 13, 2008
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in eHealth, Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Innovation, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Online Doc, Web 2.0, Webicina.Tags: eHealth, Innovation, Online Doc, Web 2.0, Webicina
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Webicina.com is my service that aims to help medical professionals and patients enter the web 2.0 era by providing e-courses, consulting and personalized packages. Why did I launch Webicina?
I envisioned a bridge. On one side of the river, there are patients who don’t know how to use the web, how to find health information online. I think NextHealth will be their best tool to use.
On the other side of the bridge, there are physicians. Their best guide is Jay Parkinson and his Hello Health practice as he was the first really web-savvy doctor.
Who will connect the two sides? Who can become an efficient and valuable bridge?
Yes, I hope Webicina will close this gap…
When I talked with Jen McCabe Gorman, a prominent blogger at Health Management Rx, she envisioned this:
Now I’m happy to announce Webicina is starting to co-operate with more and more organizations and communities. Just three examples, CureTogether, CareFlash and Ozmosis.
And it seems it’s getting a serious coverage from the blogosphere as well.
Let’s start educating physicians about how to use the web efficiently, let’s help patients how to find information online. Let’s reform healthcare! What is your view on this?
Further reading:
Jay Parkinson and Hello Health June 5, 2008
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in e-patient, eHealth, Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Innovation, Medicine, Online Doc, Video, Web 2.0.5 comments
First, you know well who Jay Parkinson is and why he is an example for all of us in the health 2.0 world. Second, I’ve already presented some services that provide online medical consultation. Of course, the simplest conclusion is Jay must launch a similar service. And here is Hello Health.
Let’s see what you have to do if you would like to see a doctor online:
- Join Hello Health.
- Make an appointment.
- You see your doctor.
- You feel better.
You can choose video chat; IM; in-person visit or e-mail. Ok, despite all the dangers it can lead to, this is the future. I must state that medicine will never be an online service, but there will be more and more patients who want to have a GP who can be contacted online anytime it’s needed.
And if you would like to hear more from Jay himself, here are some videos and interviews:
Hello Health:
Jay on Health 2.0:
YourWiredMD.com: Jay Parkinson, MD
Further reading:
Online Doctors or Pizza? May 19, 2008
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Fun, Online Doc.add a comment
After writing about some medical online services, I came across this interesting link on the blog of Jay Parkinson.
It’s more than funny!
Call Your Doctor Online: The Future of Medicine? May 18, 2008
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in eHealth, Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Innovation, List, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Online Doc, Web 2.0.19 comments
The medical blogosphere is full of articles dedicated to the pros and cons of online consultation and e-health. I’ve also written tons of posts about online docs. If you’re a patient, would you like to find a doctor online when you have a medical question? If you’re a doctor, would you like to run an online medical practice?
Now I tried to collect the best sites and services that are based on e-visit or maintain virtual offices/practices. Let me know if you know more.
- Who else could be a better example than Jay Parkinson, the first really online physician?
He is the chief medical officer at Myca and is working on a new project called Hello Health:
Hello Health is a friendly, branded consumer experience with your accessible neighborhood doctor. We see you in person. We talk with you via the internet. We’re close to home and we’re an email, SMS, or IM away. We take the pain out of going to the doctor. We’re partners with you.
- Ask Medical Doctor is the second service I would like to share with you. You can ask a medical question and qualified physicians will answer it for free.
- Medindia: It has currently over 1000 doctors listed on its panel. Doctors will provide you with an online solution to your problem. They do not sell prescription drugs but can give you advice and recommendation on their effectiveness. It’s not for free…
- American Well: Talk to a doctor anytime, without leaving home or scheduling an appointment. Choose from a variety of specialties and connect with the doctor who is right for you.
- Medem: “The iHealth service is the first and only suite of fully integrated web-based physician-patient communication services that are proven to effectively engage patients in better managing their health. This comprehensive service can be used by all stakeholders in healthcare — patients, their doctors, hospitals and health systems, health plans, employers, allied professionals and caregivers.”
- Relay Health: ” RelayHealth is an intelligent network with solutions that improve clinical communication, accelerate care delivery, and drive cash collection by connecting patients, providers, pharmacies, payors and financial institutions. At RelayHealth, we possess unique channel strength across all key segments of healthcare with established leadership in real-time transactions processing, a strong portfolio of transactional businesses, and the stability, trustworthiness, and resources of proven organizations.”
- Real Doctors, Real Patients, Virtual Office (Medgadget):
The Spanish Society for Family and Community Medicine (FYC) and the Coalition for Citizens with Chronic Illnesses has setup a service for Spanish teenagers to virtually visit a real doctor in Second Life, the 3D online virtual world. The goal is to provide a space where embarrassing issues can be raised in privacy, without the blushing of a face to face consultation.
- Center for Connected Health: Dermatology e-visits
- Consult a Doctor: Consult A Doctor’s mission is to improve health and reduce health care costs by creating innovative consumer-driven health care solutions for employers and individuals that meet their health care needs of today and tomorrow.
- Healthcare Magic: HealthcareMagic is the world’s first portal allowing a live interaction between doctors and patients over Internet and phone, allowing integrated comparison shopping for health related products and services. HealthcareMagic enables patients, families and friends to share their experiences with a healthcare provider like doctors and hospitals, to research and purchase health care products and services with the same ease and transparency as shopping for other products online.
These services and projects will play a more than important role in the future of medicine. It’s not a big deal to predict more and more patients will choose the web to communicate with their physicians. What do you think? Is it a correct perspective regarding the patient-doctor relationship?
Medical videos + community = Successful collaboration April 23, 2008
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Collaboration, Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Innovation, Medical education, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Online Doc, Video, Web 2.0.2 comments
In one of my recent posts, I talked about the long tail phenomenon in healthcare and mentioned that:
There are so many sites and services in a lot of different categories (medical videos; medical search engines or patient community sites) and only a minority of them will survive. Even if some of us will fail, this is a good tendency as it leads to quality services.
I think relatively smaller (at least for now), but useful services focusing on different aspects of medicine should work together. And look what happenned now:
Ozmosis, the physician-only online community dedicated to knowledge sharing and discovery, has announced its partnership with The Doctor’s Channel, an online resource providing medical information through streaming video.
Through the partnership, The Doctor’s Channel, described as an “educational YouTube for doctors” by CNBC, will provide Ozmosis with two-minute educational videos covering practice management and clinical issues across more than 35 medical specialties. Since physicians learn best by interacting with each other, Ozmosis, in turn, will provide Doctor’s Channel members with the online tools to discuss each video and share related experiences through “physicians only” forums.
Recently, Ozmosis hosted a Doctors Channel video on the influenza surveillance report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The video expanded and illuminated the Ozmosis physician discussion on the current status of the flu epidemic. By combining the video insights offered through The Doctors Channel with the broad experiences and commentary of Ozmosis community members, physicians had speedy access to timely, accurate and reliable medical information.
