“A new study by Microsoft researchers suggests that persons who consult the Internet for self-diagnosis of medical conditions typically end up with the wrong conclusions. The report is the first to take a systematic look at “cyberchondria,” the practice of leaping to dire conclusions while researching health matters online, according to Eric Horvitz, an artificial intelligence researcher at Microsoft. Many people, he said, treat search engines as if they can answer questions like a human expert. Microsoft researchers note that they did not intend to send the message that people should completely ignore medical symptoms. But they do need to consider lesser illnesses as well as more deadly ones if they search online. “People tend to look at just the first couple results,” Horvitz said.”

My point is that the Internet will never be a physician. Microsoft has clearly stated that they are going to face difficulties in developing intelligent search engines that will resolve internet search patterns letting them look for at the right places; they want to enhance the actual search. But the real question is the following: Is enough to simply enhance the actual search to provide valid results for users?  The short answer is no, and the guys at Miscrosoft are honest enough to admit it. At Your TeleDoctor we are tackling the same problem, but instead of leading into a very hazardeous route, we prefer to use the internet for what it is for: An way to enhance communications and to add value to healthcare consumers by offering real services through this medium, remotely. We add a missing element to the value chain. People will keep looking for health information online, because it is a more convienient way to verify health issues and also a faster way as medicine is not an exact science and will never be. In the other hand, they want a more convinient way to confirm this information with a qualified physician.

As described in previous posts, Internet users, due to time constraints, convenience, availability and proximity are tempted to practice auto-diagnosis based on the information found in search engines or general medical websites like WebMD or Doctissimo. And here lies the problem, as the average healthcare consumer is more likely to make mistakes in the diagnosis, due to his lack of medical expertise. This can lead consumers to think the worst, for instance diagnosing an appendicite or a chronic sleep disorder. Online health information services should be considered as such, just information. By no means is it a way to conduct a diagnosis which is a more complex process that takes a series of parameters, quantifiable or not.

The full article from lifehacker describes the phenomenom:

“Everyone’s done it: you’ve got a raging stomachache and you’re feeling kind of fatigued, so you search online for the cause of your malady and conclude that you’ve got cancer. A new study from Microsoft shows that “cyberchondria” is common because when you search for symptoms, the worst case scenario can be the first result—or not representative of the frequency of a serious illness. (For example, searching for a headache will return just as many brain tumor results as caffeine withdrawal, when the chances of a tumor are “infinitesimally small.”) Have you decided you’re dying after searching for illness symptoms online? Tell us about it in the comments.” Source:Lifehacker

I will also include one of the most interesting comments on the article:

“My boyfriend uses the internet to self-diagnose and predict his impending doom on a regular basis.” Healthcare consumer

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve convinced myself I have appendicitis by reading WebMD.”  Healthcare consumer

I also found a detailled comment by a neuropsychologist about the dangers of self-diagnosis:

“As a clinical neuropsychologist, I cannot tell you how often patients search for health-related information that ends up being wrong, or does not apply to them. I would estimate from clinical experience that people are led to inaccurate or non-applicable information 95% of the time, whereas only 5% actually find something useful. People often show up at my office with printouts of symptoms and all sorts of illness-related information, having completely convinced themselves that they have disorder X. It’s actually a sad thing and it takes forever to disabuse individuals of information that they have latched onto as explaining all of their problems.

There are many considerations and variables that factor into diagnostic decision-making besides a list of symptoms. I would encourage anyone who seriously believes that he or she is ill to seek medical attention. I’m not saying that we should unquestionably accept information from our health care providers — doctors can and do make mistakes. But, please, try to keep an open mind and resist the urge to self-diagnose. If you have been to multiple doctors and no one can find anything wrong with you, it might be fruitful to check your premises.”

Your TeleDoctor is aiming at bridging the gap between healthcare consumers and physicians by offering a plateform that provide the same advantages of accessibility and convinience of information website, but by adding value by having a physician to help you with your medical concerns.

Experience shows that doctors are far from being early adopters, electronic health records (ER) being one of the most recent cases. However, the publication of a study of 222 patients about how webcams can help in decision making when someone shows up in a rural emergency suffering from a stroke. Doctors made the right decision in 98% of the time when using a webcam while they would make the right decision only 82% of the time over the phone.This report should convince that telemedicine is important, as it is not more than a technology gadget but a necessity that can save lifes.  

The consulsion that can be drawn from these results is that using video conferencing helps doctors in decision making, the right decision that can save a life, while it decreases the risk for patients. At TeleDoctor, these facts conforts us and shows that we are heading to the right path as we are developping the most compelling tool to help doctors in decision making as well as offer the best medical service for patients.

I won’t reinvente the wheel by telling the story behind Health 2.0 Accelerator. I have pasted the original article for more details. However, I want to talk about how I can be benefical to be involved in this project. For example the first project in which members will take part is about moving pharmaceutical data. The advantage of such an initiative is inspired from the opensource contribution widely common in software communities. People in healthcare  could then focus on solving more complex problems that plague the actual healthcare sector. Stay tuned, the wiki is up and running at Health2Accelerator.org

“For several months there has been discussion amongst Health 2.0 companies about the concept of a Health 2.0 Accelerator. It started with Marty Tenenbaum’s introduction of the concept in September 2007. It continued with the discussion at the San Diego meeting in March 2008. Since then conversations and meetings among a small group have continued to define a first cut at what the Health 2.0 Accelerator should be.

The basic idea is for organizations to collaborate to create “public goods” —frameworks and strategies that will help all concerned to advance the industry. The way to do this is via projects that tackle particular problems, and leave behind frameworks and utilities that all can use.

The reality is of course going to be more complex, but we’re delighted to announce that the first project concerning moving pharmaceutical data has been announced, and the first principles and statements about the future of the Accelerator are now up at its own wiki at Health2Accelerator.org.

We are now asking for everyone in the Health 2.0 Community to become members, suggest projects, and contribute to the wiki. This is very much a work in progress, but we believe that the potential is huge. Please go to the new site, and contribute by giving us your comments.”

By Mathieu Hault and Indu Subaiya

I was reading Scott Shreeve’s crossoverhealth blog the other night, and I stumbled upon maybe the most insightful article on IT and healthcare I read in the last couple weeks. He is stating that governments are spending more and more money in Telemedicine projects that use their proprietary network and hardware software. These guys have missed the train, and are doing an anachronism. Sadly, this article just clearly states the IT medical space is still taken from another perspective than other fields and is still in its infancy while it should clearly be mainstream nowadays. In fact, all technologies needed to support it are available.

But we need to not forget that people are driving the revolution themselves, by using web 2.0 tools to communicate, find information about health and wellness, and even practice auto diagnosis. People are then ready to use more advanced tools to perform other tasks, like auto managing their health, their medications intakes, and health in general. They also want to use these tools to talk to their doctors. 

Some startups have seized the opportunity, and are developing tools, using technology that has existed from some time now, to enhance patient experience with health care, making the end user happier and healthier.