Announced
today, a new social network centred on healthcare aims to help solve healthcare
problems on two levels at once by linking the concrete medical difficulties
faced by United States? citizens
to those affecting the national healthcare system that is supposed to address
them. To this end, CheckMD endeavours to
provide a resource of practical information and advice whilst promoting a
conception of healthcare reform based on personal accountability.
The
new offering presents itself as a tool designed to enable all individuals
involved in healthcare to
make the most informed decisions possible,
whether they are patients, medical professionals or pharmaceutical or
insurance companies.
Users
can source, rate and recommend healthcare professionals and institutions through a Physician and
Hospital Research feature. Physicians
and hospitals can join the community as Consumer Advocate Partners. Patients and professionals can also share
their experiences of sickness, surgery, medical procedures and medications on
the site?s ?HealthTree Communities? forums. Finally, Users are explicitly encouraged to
voice their political views and interact on the subject of healthcare reform.
CheckMD founder and President
Jon Black grounds this combined practical and political approach on the belief
that both aspects are inextricably intertwined, commenting that, ?Today, America suffers from a healthcare system
that is focused less on quality healthcare and more on profit and expediency. I believe quality healthcare does exist and I
created checkMD as a way to inspire a new confidence so people can find and
demand it.?
It is likely that the success of the
endeavour will be measured by its ability to merge two erstwhile separate
audiences: those seeking practical medical advice and those interested in the
political aspects of healthcare.