With over 1.2 billion health-related searches on Google every month, there’s a high demand for open access to trusted medical information online. Most information available lives on static repositories such as websites or blogs, is created in a non-transparent fashion, doesn’t speak to the average reader, isn’t relevant, and offers no personalization. Although social media channels are more dynamic and personal, they are not well suited for the exchange of health information between patients and doctors.
Despite repeated attempts to successfully use these ridged, cumbersome, impersonal, and often anonymous information sources for health, research shows that most of the time what users find is of no help (Pew 2010). A new model for serving users has emerged and its successful implementation will be explained: it mimics the real-world practice of communicating directly with doctors, while democratizing health information and making finding it more efficient, accurate, and inexpensive.