A recent industry report by Manhattan Research, a New York-based healthcare research organization confirms that more than 60 million adults in the United States are using “Healthcare 2.0” technology, which includes electronic health records, health-related blogs, message boards, and chat rooms.

"Healthcare in the U.S. is an expensive commodity and, as a result, providers are always seeking to streamline operations. Allowing members to manage their own healthcare portfolio services online helps them to achieve this, as well as raising levels of customer satisfaction. It's a win-win situation," says David Lavenda, vice president of marketing and product strategy at WorkLight, a New York-based Web 2.0 consulting firm.

"The list of healthcare-related Web 2.0 activities is quite long and that, in itself, speaks volumes of the need to engage patients and members in the places they frequent online," says Lavenda. The places include social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, personal homepages such as iGoogle and Windows Live, and desktop gadget environments such as Yahoo! Widgets, Google Gadgets, and iPhones.

One interesting finding from the report, says Lavenda, is that 10 million American adults are now accessing Healthcare 2.0 information using mobile devices.
This, he says, represents a significant shift in the way healthcare consumers are looking for service. Instead of interfacing face-to-face or over the phone, patients are migrating to the Internet, and increasingly to the mobile Internet.

"This is all good news for providers and consumers of online healthcare services, but there is, of course, the security issue to address," says Lavenda, who says these concerns will be addressed using enterprise-grade Web technology.

For more on the Manhattan Research Healthcare 2.0 study,
Over 60 Million U.S. Adults Engaging in Health 2.0

For more on WorkLight, www.myworklight.com