MedHelp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| MedHelp International | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded |  Melbourne, Florida, USA (February 14, 1994) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Key people | Cindy Thompson, Co-Founder
Phil Garfinkel, Co-Founder John deSouza, CEO Khaled Hassounah, VP of Engineering |
| Industry | Healthcare, Internet |
| Products | "Ask an Expert" forums, "Medical Communities" support forums, "Health Topics" medical dictionary, "MedTalk" doctor blogs |
| Website | http://www.medhelp.org/ |
MedHelp is an American private corporation that was founded in February 1994 and pioneered the field of consumer health information and communities on the Internet, before WebMD, Microsoft or Yahoo!.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
MedHelp partners with doctors from hospitals and medical research institutions to deliver online discussion boards on over 150 healthcare topics.
In April 2008, MedHelp was ranked 4,184 in the Alexa Internet 3 month traffic rankings of all sites on the web and gets over 5.5 million unique visitors each month.
[edit] History
[edit] 1993 - 1994: Founding
The founders of MedHelp, Cindy Thompson and Phil Garfinkel, met in December of 1993, while conducting research in CompuServe's Med-Sig Forum. Both had family members that had struggled with life threatening illnesses. They discussed the difficulties they encountered in obtaining medical information in lay terminology. Cindy mentioned that one of her dreams was to create a service where patients would be able to contact leading physicians and scientists, who could answer specific questions, in lay terminology, regarding their diagnoses. Based on that vision, they incorporated the company on February 14, 1994 and launched the MedHelp bulletin board system (BBS) on April 1, 1994 with a 386 computer, two modems, and two phone lines.
[edit] 1995 - Present: Growth
In 1995, MedHelp updated its BBS so that it could also be accessed by the emerging Web browsers. At that point, only a handful of institutions such as the University of Iowa and Columbia University School of Medicine delivered health information on the Internet. The National Cancer Institute had an FTP presence, but not a Web presence.
By August of 1995, MedHelp had about 38,000 visitors a month. MedHelp continued to grow and by April 2008, MedHelp was getting over 5.5 million unique visitors monthly.
[edit] Operation
[edit] Forums
MedHelp hosts 2 types of forums - "Ask an Expert" forums and "Health Communities" forums on over 100 healthcare topics including Addiction, Allergy, Cancer, Cosmetic Surgery, Dental, Dermatology, Disaster Preparedness, Ear Nose & Throat, Fitness, Gastroenterology, Gynecology, Heart, Hepatitis, HIV, Neurology, Orthopedics, Pain Management, STD, Weight Loss, Women's Health, Pet Health and Urology. The forums are moderated by MedHelp.
In the "Ask an Expert" forums, users can ask questions to medical specialists from MedHelp's partner institutions like the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Partners HealthCare, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, National Jewish Medical & Research Center, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, University of South Florida Health Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
In the "Health Communities" forums, users post questions, comments and get responses and support from other users.
[edit] Revenue model
MedHelp states that its business model is advertisement-based, and advertisers can buy ads directly from MedHelp or through partners such as Google.
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
- CBS News, Paperless Rx For Better Health; Oct 29, 2007
- The Cleveland Clinic Heart & Vascular Institute
- Consumer Reports HealthRatings.org Top 20 Health Information Websites
- Wall Street Journal, A Guide to Some of the Internet's Best -- And Most Overlooked -- Health Sites, By Tara Parker-Pope; Eastern edition; Jul 6, 2004; D.1;
- Wall Street Journal, Can't Get In to See That Famed M.D.? Top Docs Now Keep Office Hours Online, By Tara Parker-Pope; The Wall Street Journal; Eastern edition; Jan 7, 2003; D.1;
- Wall Street Journal, Finding Someone Who Feels Your Pain: Matching Services Connect Sick Patients, By Tara Parker-Pope; The Wall Street Journal; Eastern edition; Dec 17, 2002; D.1;
- US Dept. of State’s Global Issues Magazine, Med Help International: Where There's a Doctor on the Web, November 2000
- Time Magazine, A Web of Deceit, By Christine Gorman, Health Editor, Monday, Feb. 08, 1999
