The San Francisco Chronicle featured an article highlighting Health 2.0 and the wave of consumer (patient) oriented web sites.
DailyStrength.org people can choose among 500 support groups - from celiac disease to pulmonary fibrosis - create an online journal to chronicle their disease and send electronic hugs to other members.
ZocDoc.com lets patients book physician and dentist appointments online, similar to the way OpenTable.com allows diners to make online reservations for restaurants
RateMDs.com takes a page from consumer rating sites like Yelp and RateMyTeachers.com - a popular site that allows students to "grade" teachers and administrators - by allowing patients to anonymously praise or pan their doctors.
Dubbed the YouTube of health care, ICYou.com allows patients to share their stories through online video clips.
Other Web sites, such as PatientsLikeMe, offer people battling devastating diseases the ability to discuss and track in great detail the treatment options other patients in their disease group are trying.
OrganizedWisdom.com: Aligns doctor-reviewed and user-generated health content to help people make decisions.
ReliefInSite.comRelief in Site. com: Helps patients record and track their pain and medications and share it with their doctors, nurses, pain specialists, therapists, friends and family members
And I like this one the best:
NursesRateDoctors.com: Recruits nurses to give their candid assessment of doctors........for the surgeons who throw instruments.....
It seems Health Information Networks are developing in ways which we could not imagine.
Today I came across a focused PHR solution for Lasik surgeons. Safeguard your Sight
Many times patients undergo refractive surgery on their eyes, and require enhancements or cataract surgery at a later date. Often times it is with a different ophthalmologist and the prior records are unavailable. Ophthalmologists are able to upload their "data" before surgery, and after surgery. The data resides on a server. Patients can access this information for a fee and give the results to the new surgeon.