Archive for the ‘Praxeon’ Category

Healthline Networks to Keynote at Health Content08

• Posted August 4th 2008
• Comments (0)
• by Janice

West Shell III of Healthline Networks to Keynote; Breakthrough Companies Will Kick-off the Program

PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Health Content Advisors, (www.healthcontentadvisors.com (a division of InfoCommerce Group, Inc. (www.infocommercegroup.com) announced today that West Shell III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Healthline Networks, will present the keynote address at the second annual Health Content08 conference to be held November 12-13, 2008 in Philadelphia.

Shell will address best practices, promising opportunities and potential pitfalls as health content companies navigate a rapidly-evolving landscape. “Technology is the new intermediary between key stakeholders in the healthcare vertical, building greater efficiencies, driving innovation and generating profits,” says Shell. He will also discuss how content companies can build equity through innovative online distribution and advertising models.

The theme of this year’s conference, Incumbents, Innovators, and Intermediaries represents how market forces in the healthcare industry are putting pressure on publishers to innovate to meet the needs of consumers and health professionals who are demanding more customized content and faster, more efficient access to larger collections of health information.

Health Content08 is expanding this year to include Innovators Showcase, where 10 emerging companies, selected by an advisory committee, will present initiatives that will re-set the standards for the industry. Sponsored by Berkery Noyes, this kick-off session will demonstrate how companies are leveraging opportunities in the areas of: Online Consumer Healthcare Information, Clinical and Point-of-care Information Services, Price and Quality Metrics, and Personalized Medicine. The submission application is available on the conference web site.

Confirmed companies represented on the program include Advanstar Communications, Berkery Noyes, BenefitFocus Media, BMJ Point of Care, ConnectivHealth, Consumer Reports, EBSCO Publishing, Elsevier Health Sciences, Healthbase Online, HealthGrades, Hearst Business Media, Lois Drapin & Company, Mendelsohn Consulting, OptumHealth, Praxeon, RemedyMD, WEGO Health and Wolters Kluwer Health.

Additional conference sponsors this year include Really Strategies, producer of RSuite, and BenefitFocus Media/icyou.com.

The Health Content08conference program is available at:

www.healthcontent08.com

ABOUT HEALTH CONTENT ADVISORS

Health Content Advisors provides consulting services to consumer and business health content companies and serves as an industry connector and arbiter of best practices and trends. It continually monitors and interprets shifts in information usage in all sectors of the healthcare market to guide publishers in their current business and identify opportunities. Its blog, Health Content in Perspective, is issued every week and can be accessed at www.healthcontentadvisors.com/blog. More information is available at www.healthcontentadvisors.com or by calling (781) 356-1766.

ABOUT INFOCOMMERCE GROUP, INC.

InfoCommerce Group provides consulting and research to commercial database publishers. InfoCommerce Group also publishes ICG Weekly Perspective, the influential weekly blog which can be accessed at www.infocommercegroup.com/blog, as well as books and special reports. It produces the annual InfoCommerce Conference as well as the Health Content conference, and the InfoCommerce Models of Excellence awards. More information is available at www.infocommercegroup.com, or by calling (610) 505-9189.

 

Google Health’s Unfinished Content Strategy

• Posted June 2nd 2008
• Comment (1)
• by Janice

 One thinks of search when one thinks of Google.  Since the early version of Google Health that was just released in Beta is focused not on search or content but on  interoperability and security for its personal health records (PHR) platform, it is difficult to quickly size up the opportunities. There are a few content companies among the early partnerships, including HealthGrades, Praxeon, and ADAM.  HealthGrades and ADAM are integrated into the main Google Health page, and Praxeon is a services partner that offers personalized content based on a user’s profile via its MyDailyApple service. 

The prime benefits for content partners appear to be the association with Google and visibility in the list of member services for Google Health.  As pointed out in our earlier entry, a user has to choose to sign up with your service and take added steps to register.  Unless the user takes these steps, the only benefit a member services partner receives is brand recognition for being listed among the other services that have been approved to be included in Google Health. Granted, being associated with Google is not a minor benefit (see Dr. Bob Wachter’s paeon to Google and Google Health, in which he states that companies like Walgreens “can’t put a monetary value on the “cool” value of teaming up with Google“). 

On the other hand, if users register for your service via Google Health, you receive  leads that can be upsold to your direct services, either advertising, paid subscriptions or some other revenue model.

Note that it takes work to become a Google Health partner.  Mount Tabor Online Services, a specialized IT services firm, has found a niche in helping potential partner companies navigate the technical hurdles and other issues related to becoming an approved member services partner.  In their own words, “Mount Tabor can help with secure hosting, technical support for functions involving data normalization and data exchange, and strategic guidance related to application development, integration, deployment and operation“.

It will also take patience to wait for a return on investment.  The adoption cycle for PHRs is likely to be slow and the value of a PHR is largely dependent on the adoption of electronic medical records by provider organizations.

Given these hurdles for participating and the limited returns, I find it puzzling that Google only allowed a limited number of member services partners to distribute press releases promoting their partnership.  Among them, none were content partners.  At this stage, it appears that Google may not have a content strategy for Google Health because they are so focused on developing their platform for exchanging information.  There are inklings of how users will be guided to more in-depth information (links on right-hand column display related results from Google News, Google Scholar, and Google Groups), but the existing content elements of Google Health look like a placeholder for a more developed content strategy to come.