Networked Communities – Sermo

I saw this mentioned in the HealthNex blog and thought I would add it here.  I was thinking earlier today about the power of social networking from a patient perspective.  It is helpful (and potentially misleading) to hear from peers when you have a chronic disease.  They can provide you with experiential data that helps you understand.  They can also direct you to information sources.

For people with more fatal diseases, they can serve as a support function.  Sermo, on the other hand, is a networking tool for physicians to help them share clinical experiences with other physicians.   Here are a couple of examples of some postings (I can’t see everything since I am not an MD):

1. Statin Side Effects

   How often do you people develop fatigue and/or myalgias while on a statin? does it negate use of other members of this family? if so, what would your next drug choice be in the setting of a patient with high ldl and low hdl?…

2. orbital follicular lymphoma

   this is a 65 y old woman diagnosed about 3 months ago with a right orbital grade II/III follicular lymphoma (lacrimal gland excised ). patient had a staging workup including PET scan and bone marrow biopsy which were negative ,that was after surgery….

This is definitely the power of Health2.0 where people can collaborate and share information using web tools.