Comments on: The healthcare “revolution” — controlling your records, insurance

By: John Smith

John Smith — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:33:07 +0000

Have heard from it before, but is indeed a very good comment. Thanks.

By: bonnie-o

bonnie-o — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 16:28:05 +0000

Americans and Canadians can get a free copy of their medical reports annually from http://www.MIB.com Medical Insurance Bureau)
Report also shows whose been looking at your medical reports.

A forward-looking group trying to put healthcare back in the hands of patients is (Institute for healthcare improvement) http://www.ihi.org Comprised of docs, insurance cos, and patients. Free to join

By: Nagesh

Nagesh — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:19:05 +0000

Little more detail here.. http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2007/01/22/aols-case-sparks-health-revolution.aspx

By: Nagesh

Nagesh — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:13:52 +0000

Revolution caught my attention once I saw this clip on Google Video. Revolution seems to go beyond simply putting a web portal, to actually transform healthcare. For example, they support convenient care clinics ( as opposed to emergency rooms) – he compares it to Starbucks – imagine a starbucks for healthcare, whatever that is. The interview with Steve starts at 15:40 mark. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6507538008164695118

-Nagesh

By: Kim Criswell

Kim Criswell — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 02:23:31 +0000

In response to Joe Grossberg’s comment above, “Whatâ€™s the obsession with â€œfocusâ€?”

and his point that “Google seems to be doing enviably well.” with its combo of “search, text advertising, email, blogging and maps?…
Yahoo! is worth almost $40B, and they could hardly be less focused.”

Uh, Google and Yahoo were both VERY focused when they launched. Both were, initially, all about searching the Web. That’s why they succeeded to the point where they could diversify.

That’s the way successful company launches work: They start out with a clear focus. After they have gain momentum & status, then they grow by adding brand extensions.

Even AOL, the company that made Steve Case’s fortune, succeeded by being extremely focused at the start — all AOL did when it launched was provide an email interface that was easy enough that anyone could use it.

If you lack focus when you start out, your company never gains its footing. You don’t know where to put your resources in order to build momentum. You don’t have a clear message. You end up competing with yourself (i.e. one division/feature/employee competes with the next one) when you’d be better off differentiating from the OUTSIDE competition.

It sounds like Steve Case is spending $100 million essentially throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks… not exactly a recipe for success.

By: Vince Kuraitis

Vince Kuraitis — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:10:16 +0000

Some of the most interesting and insightful reading about Revolution is posted at the TechCrunch blog. It’s the comments that are worth scanning, mostly from tech savvy but non-healthcare folks –
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/01/03/aol-founders-next-startup-revolution-health/ My summary: Revolution is viewed lukewarmly, at best

I wanted to get a personal feel of the Revolution web site experience, so 10 minutes ago I signed up at http://www.revolutionhealth.com. “MyRevolution” is like a myspace for health care.

Here is the actual text I saw at “postings from my circle”:

i am currently a cocaine user,trying to quit. i have started haing sinus headaches,and my eyes swel…
posted on 01/23/2007 by anonymous

i have been very off lately and light headed and dizzy and the doctors realized my sugar level was l…
posted on 01/23/2007 by Live Ride Love

Its not just what we eat, but also when we eat it, right? I’ve tried to start having a small snack …
posted on 01/23/2007 by LiamR

My favorite thing to do when stressed is crochet, but sometimes my wrist is too tired after 10+ hour…
posted on 01/23/2007 by anonymous

Hmmm…with which one of these folks do I want to strike up a conversation?

Working with a wide range of health technology companies, I would like to think of myself as a fan of Revolution, but I’m stuggling to do so at the moment.

By: Meg A. Watt

Meg A. Watt — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:31:55 +0000

Just a clarification, Intuit currently offers Quicken Medical Expense Manager at a ONE TIME discounted rate of $49. There is currently no annual subscription, as stated in the article. We have a new product coming out this year that will facilitate a new healthcare content consolidation and delivery system. For more info, check out our website: http://quicken.intuit.com/healthcare-management/

Meg A.Watt
Quicken Health Support Team Lead

By: Joe Grossberg

Joe Grossberg — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:09:32 +0000

“John Steuart is understating this companyâ€™s lack of focus.”

You mean like search, text advertising, email, blogging and maps? Google seems to be doing enviably well.

Yahoo! is worth almost $40B, and they could hardly be less focused.

What’s the obsession with “focus”? Why should we have to go to a totally different website for every health-related need?

By: David H

David H — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:58:42 +0000

Where’s the new idea?

drkoop.com tried to have people take care of their own health via an electronic health record and it went down in flames within a year of its IPO in 1999. Revolution seems to be offering a mish-mash of whatever’s “hot” at the moment– syndicated content, social networking, PHR, you name it.

John Steuart is understating this company’s lack of focus.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:48:55 +0000

It sounds an excellent idea especially if it would allow me to record my BP and weight etc. It would then mean I could sell my own data to longitudinal studies etc

By: RK

RK — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 05:09:32 +0000

I have not seen anything earth shattering concept in Revolution/evolution wanna be health, they look like want to be a WebMD + Healthia + Medical records + social networking. So out of above WebMD worked, Healthia is Insurance company aggerators ?? may be you should ask David Cowan at Bessemer on that. Also you cannot rate doctors based on how they treated you from what you learned from WebMD etc.. each case is unique requires different treatment plan, if WebMD treatment plan worked than we would not need to spend money on buying insurance and paying doctor etc, that means we all collectively saving 14% of GDP, which happens to be health care cost today in USA!

On Medical records, I am not sure there is secure way of doing this no token/smart card sort system exist yet, for patient to feel safe on records.

Social Networking there is some possibility here for support group etc…

By: Pran Kurup

Pran Kurup — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 03:33:04 +0000

Its nice to see more startups in this area. There should be a centralized place that maintains individual medical records (billing, claims etc.) and it should be accessible by any Dr./Dentist you go to. These days if you switch insurance providers you have to go through a monster survey. If you switch Dr.s you are burdened with more forms to fill out about your medical history. This is a complete pain/mess that should be streamlined using technology.