MotherKnows
A startup that helps you access and retain your medical records (to which you are entitled) from providers. Another proof of how impenetrable and complex our healthcare system is. It’s a brilliant niche. MotherKnows will interact with the healthcare system (your physician, hospital, insurer, etc.) on your behalf to procure a copy of the medical record, store it, analyze it and make the...
Read MoreMedify
Scientific and medical research has seen explosive growth in the past few decades. Since 1996, the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) has maintained PubMed, a free portal providing access to references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. PubMed now has over 21 million citations going back to 1966, and continues to add a staggering amount (about 500,000 new...
Read MoreAlliance Health
There have been plenty of success stories of online networks that help aggregate individuals with a common interest in a health condition. PatientsLikeMe, MedHelp, DailyStrength, Sermo to name some. So it was only a matter of time before we saw a network of networks. Something that went beyond a online community with singular focus. Alliance Health offers services to create health-related social...
Read MoreVoxiva
On the continuum of healthcare IT solutions, there are two distant ends. One extreme can be thought of as the complex, medical-grade enterprise EHR systems that cater to large institutions and mainly providers. The other would then be a consumer-grade solution that is designed for delivering health interventions to the masses. The latter is where Voxiva‘s offerings lie. Voxiva provides...
Read MoreBen’s Friends
The long tail of rare medical conditions has mostly been an unexplored market. Office of Rare Disease Research at NIH defines a disease or disorder as rare when it affects fewer than 200,000 people in America. Another non-profit organization, the National Organization for Rare Disorders‘s database lists more than 6,000 rare disorders that cumulatively affect approximately 25 million...
Read MoreJitterbug Health Services
Jitterbug Wireless is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) founded in 2006. They offer simplified mobile hardware and service targeted towards baby boomers, with the value proposition being the opposite of a feature-rich phone. Few big, buttons and great customer service are it’s selling points for seniors who are looking for hassle-free wireless connectivity. Verizon Wireless is their...
Read MoreScanAvert
In the last few years, bar code scanning with smartphones has become much more robust and dependable functionality. Predictably enough, it’s main application has been in real-time comparison shopping and product information area, giving rise to new services like RedLaser (recently acquired by eBay). ScanAvert is an interesting paid application of the same functionality. It allows users to...
Read MoreChild Count
Lately everything I find interesting has something to do with mobile platform. “mHealth” is the buzzword for it. Seems like most of new patient-oriented healthcare IT ideas have been conceived on the premise that mobile phones plays a key role in health-related data input and/or visualization. Or it could be that I’m just biased and need to look for news in other places Child...
Read MoregDitty (Zamzee)
Now I’m finding so many ideas being tested or marketed in the actigraphy space, that I’m inclined to make a tag for related posts (did). gDitty comes out of HopeLab, a Redwood City based non-profit organization. gDitty is targeted towards promoting physical activity in kids. The product combines an activity meter device (on belt or in pocket) with an online rewards program that...
Read MoreDirectLife
Royal Philips International seems to be placing its bets on some innovative healthcare IT markets. Here are some that I’ve noticed in the past couple of years: VISICU (a remote ICU monitoring technology company acquired in 2007) Digital Pathology (commercial offering in 2009) Motiva (Remote patient management and education delivered through television) TeleStation (In-home hub for two-way...
Read MoreBedpost
Here is a half-baked idea that adds another data point to my rant about how keeping a record of health-related activities is useful, and how web 2.0 technologies can help enable such a record. Bedpost is a web application (currently in private beta) that helps in keeping track of user’s sex life. I’ve not used the site myself, but they claim simple functionality- log in after the fact...
Read MorePsych Central
In their own words ‘Psych Central is the Internet’s largest and oldest independent mental health social network’. From what I can find, it seems to be true. They have been online since 1995, and last year got close to half a million unique visitors. So consider it as the social network that started before the age of social networking. It now offers blogs, forums, reviews, news,...
Read MoreHealthline
Usually I’m wary of putting time into big-budget health portals, but San Francisco based Healthline deserves a mention. They have a portfolio of healthcare search, navigation and content that is syndicated through a growing network of big web properties like AARP, Health.com, iVillage, AOL etc. Healthline was founded in 1999 as YourDoctor.com and was re-launched as Healthline Networks in...
Read MoreCareFlash
CareFlash has an interesting take on social networking for patients. It lets you create a private, secure website to inform and update your family/friends about your medical condition- an online ‘community’ of sorts. Good concept. Having an invite-only, private community helps everyone to stay current with latest developments about the health of someone they love, without everyone...
Read MorePharmaSurveyor
PharmaSurveyor is a free service that analyzes your medications to point out potential drug interaction and side-effect risks. It was founded in 2006 by Linda and Erick Von Schweber to commercialize the ‘knowledge surveying’ technology they have developed over the last 25 years or so. Given the fact that Adverse Drug Effects (ADE) are one of the leading cause of death in the US, there...
Read MoreNavigenics
As I mentioned previously, the hype of personalized medicine is breeding a new industry-direct to consumer (DTC) Genetic Testing. These companies offer to test, analyze and store your genetic information for you. Navigenics entered this arena in April’08, with some stellar credentials in terms of team, funding (KPCB, Sequoia among others) and collaborations (Mayo, Partners, Duke, Scripps,...
Read MoreMyMedLab
Consumerism is on the rise in healthcare, and MyMedLab brings that trend to the Lab testing space. With their service users can self-order wellness lab exams online and walk-in to the lab nearest to their zip code. Note that this doesn’t include all possible lab tests, but only the subset that don’t require direct physician order. The price they charge includes collection fee for...
Read Moreicyou
Simply put, icyou is the Youtube of health-related videos. It launched around September 2007 by BenefitFocus, a Charleston (SC) based healthcare benefits software provider. The name icyou stands for ‘Intensive Content for Your Health’…a twist on the actual ICUs (Intensive Care Units). Basic idea is for icyou to be the exchange hub for patients, providers and caregivers to share...
Read MoreZeaLOG
Good ideas are always simple. I’m really optimistic about the emerging simple tools that let consumers manage, monitor or understand their health issues better. ZeaLOG is a simple tracker that lets you measure anything, and report off it. The service seems pretty new and driven by a team of one, so there are some rough edges here and there. Most of the ZeaLOGs started are around profound...
Read MoreMedpedia
Medpedia is an attempt to apply crowdsourcing concept to medical knowledge, just like Wikipedia. It launched in beta mid-February this year, with some big names backing it (Harvard, Stanford, NHS, AHA, ACP to name a few). The idea is to create a collaborative body of knowledge using physicians and Ph.Ds as gatekeepers. Anyone can contribute- physicians/Ph.Ds become directors editors (after...
Read MorePolka
Polka‘s mission is to make your up-to-date basic health information available to you all the time, on the web or your iPhone. They claim that their ‘secure aggregation and collaboration service’ can help users manage their health. Here is what they offer: My Health – An application to store your basic health information (allergies, meds, diagnosis, emergency contacts, and...
Read MoreBodyMedia
Pittsburgh-based BodyMedia makes personal monitoring devices that can help consumers keep track of their physical activity and nutrition. Their products and accessories contain innovative sensors that measure physiological data like heart rate, body temperature, calories burnt, sleep duration, etc . The collected data is then interpreted online to help wearers aim for and monitor a balanced,...
Read MoreTrialX
TrialX.org is an fantastic example of how the web enables linking specific demand with relevant supply. The services matches users (patients, affected individuals) to ongoing clinical trials using their submitted personal health information. What a great startup idea. Service demand can be tapped easily since users are searching the web for highly specific keywords (almost all include the keyword...
Read MoreMedHelp
Not much can be said about the whole healthcare social networking phenomenon now. There are plenty of sites out there, enough to make me almost give up trying to review all of them. But pioneers like MedHelp are worthwhile to talk about. MedHelp gives the (now) standard online community features to users looking for better information and support around thier medical problems. It was started...
Read MoreMyFoodMyHealth
There are plenty of medical conditions that necessitate dietary changes (Celiac’s, Diabetes, etc.) and it’s a hassle for the affected individual and/or primary caregiver to manage cooking with restrictions like gluten-free or lactose-free ingredients. MyFoodMyHealth is a startup with the self-stated mission of ‘helping you feel better by eating deliciously’. They provide...
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