Online Social Healthcare Network

On the front page of its Business section, the Washington Post reported that WellNet Healthcare, a Bethesda, [Md.] health management company, is launching the beta version of its "social network", Point to Point Healthcare, this month.

Since 1994, WellNet has built its business collecting detailed data on employees' medical and pharmacy activity so that companies can better evaluate their corporate health plans. The system is designed to allow employees to create a personal network uniting their insurance claims manager with multiple doctors and pharmacies to better coordinate treatments.


An online concierge helps workers find new specialists, and a message system reminds them to pick up prescriptions. But, privacy advocates worry about the security of web-based medical records. For instance, Deborah Peel, M.D., founder of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, said it is impossible to regain your privacy should the intimate details of your health be stolen and made public. According to Dr. Peel, people can recover from financial identity theft, but "[t]here isn't any way to fix a violation of your sensitive health records."


WellNet is not alone in pursuing a social health network. Internet titans like Google and Microsoft have put resources toward popularizing online medical records. Insurers have been adding more online tools to help their members switch doctors and check co-pay information. Arlington start-up HealthCentral, an online destination for medical information, links people with a particular disease to relevant doctors and blogger-patients.