Highlight HEALTH

Before it gets too far behind us, I wanted to write briefly about the Health 2.0 Conference, which was held in San Francisco on October 22 and 23rd. The Health 2.0 Conference focuses on the application of Web 2.0 technologies to the fields of medicine and healthcare. Specifically, I wanted to comment on health search, the semantic web and the demonstration of the health 2.0 service iMedix.

Search engines today rely extensively on keywords. However, with health-related searches, context or meaning takes on great importance. Consider this: a study earlier this summer found that simply replacing the search term “vaccine safety” with “vaccine danger” replaced virtually all accurate search results (out of the first 20) with inaccurate results [1]. Granted, there are several limitations to the study (small sample size, controversial topic), but it nonetheless illustrates how a single keyword can dramatically alter search results.

Frequently, health search results are incomplete, inaccurate or altogether wrong. Indeed, although there is a large amount of reliable health information online, an equal or greater amount of misinformation also exists. Many health seekers have grown accustomed to repeatedly reviewing search results, revising the search criteria and searching again until they find the right keywords that return the desired information. Ultimately, health seekers are faced with determining which sources of information are reliable. One way to confront this issue is to discard the traditional search engine approach based on keywords and use Semantic Web technology.

One company embracing Semantic Web technology to improve health search is iMedix. As part of the series on Social Networks and Health, I recently reviewed iMedix at Highlight HEALTH 2.0:

Using medical semantic technology to translate health questions into a series of weighted medical terms, iMedix returns relevant search results from top-rated sources. iMedix CEO and cofounder Amir Leitersdorf presented a demo of the health 2.0 service at the Health 2.0 Conference. The fast-paced iMedix demo (presenters were only alloted 4 minutes for each presentation) provides a nice overview of what happens “behind the scenes” when a question is posted to the iMedix community.

For more articles on Web 2.0 in health and medicine, visit Highlight HEALTH 2.0. Is there a specific health 2.0 website you visit regularly and would like to review? Are you interested in writing a guest post or co-blogging about social health networks and the integration of Web 2.0 technologies into health and medicine? Let me know! My hope is that we can teach each other and help people become more familiar with these websites and what they have to offer. Perhaps you’d even like to contribute here on Highlight HEALTH. Send me an email for more information.

Here’s some additional resources to learn more about the recent Health 2.0 Conference:

• Jen McCabe Gorman at Health Management Rx: Health 2.0 Review - Smoke, Fires, and Companies to Watch
• AltSearchEngines: Hope’s report on Medical Search at Health 2.0
• AltSearchEngines: Health 2.0 Conference Review - Day 2
• Nitin Karandikar at The Software Abstractions Blog: 8 Top Trends at the Health 2.0 Conference, 2008
• Berci Meskó at ScienceRoll: Health 2.0 Conference: Video Interviews
• Matthew Holt at The Health Care Blog: Some more reflections on Health 2.0

Additional Health 2.0 resources are listed in the Highlight HEALTH Web Directory.

References

1. Kortum et al. The impact of inaccurate Internet health information in a secondary school learning environment. J Med Internet Res. 2008 Jun 30;10(2):e17.
   View abstract

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You can participate in the Highlight HEALTH Network community by leaving your thoughts or questions in the comment section below every article on Highlight HEALTH and Highlight HEALTH 2.0. I try to reply to all comments. You can also e-mail me or use the contact form.

Interested in guest posting? I’m always looking for people with an interest in Web 2.0 and Health/Medicine to contribute articles for Highlight HEALTH 2.0 and the hundreds of daily readers. Please e-mail me if you’re interested.

Get connected

Don’t miss out on any of the great content on the Highlight HEALTH Network. Choose the resource(s) that work best for you and get connected today!

I’ve written previously about my desire to explore the use of web 2.0 in health and medicine. Two months ago, I created a page on the Highlight HEALTH Web Directory to index articles that discuss web 2.0 in health, fitness and medicine.

… Then I realized my mistake.

No blog. No RSS. Why was I writing articles on web 2.0 and not using the tools?

I alluded to this issue when I introduced The Highlight HEALTH Network, an aggregation of feeds from Highlight HEALTH and the Highlight HEALTH Web Directory.

Accordingly, I’m pleased to present Highlight HEALTH 2.0, a blog focused on following web 2.0 in health and medicine, hosted at the Highlight HEALTH Web Directory. My intention is to develop an article resource discussing social networks and health, and to catalog a series of reviews written by myself and guest writers, describing various health-focused social networks and what they have to offer. Since I believe health-focused social networks can affect patients the same as real-life social networks, offering the information as an additional resource to a web directory of quality health-related websites seemed appropriate.

YouTube as a health resource

Sunday, I published a new article on Highlight HEALTH 2.0 titled YouTube as a Source of Health Misinformation. The article describes a recent study examining “The Wisdom of Crowds” by evaluating YouTube as a source of information on immunization. Readers subscribed to the Highlight HEALTH Network will have already seen the article, since the website’s RSS feed is now included in the network.

In the spirit of web 2.0 and collaboration, I’m also looking for guest writers who are interested in writing an article on web 2.0 in health and medicine or a review of a social health network. A number of people have already expressed their interest in collaborating and I look forward to their articles and insights.

How about you?

This is a great opportunity to introduce yourself to a new audience, share your thoughts and insights, and promote your own site. I’ll treat each review as a guest post, with links back to your blog or website. I’ll also be writing about the articles and reviews here at Highlight HEALTH. Please email me if you’d like to be involved.

Additional resources related to web 2.0 in health and medicine can be found in the following Highlight HEALTH Web Directory categories: Health 2.0, Medicine 2.0, Fitness 2.0, Health Search and Weblogs.