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</style><table class="infobox ib-company vcard"><caption class="infobox-title fn org" style="font-size: 125%;">MedHelp International</caption><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Company type</th><td class="infobox-data category"><a href="Private_company" class="mw-redirect" title="Private company">Private</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Industry</th><td class="infobox-data category"><a href="Healthcare" class="mw-redirect" title="Healthcare">Healthcare</a>, <a href="Internet" title="Internet">Internet</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Founded</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Melbourne%2C_Florida" title="Melbourne, Florida">Melbourne, Florida</a>, United States (February 14, 1994)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Headquarters</th><td class="infobox-data label"><a href="San_Francisco%2C_California" class="mw-redirect" title="San Francisco, California">San Francisco, California</a>, United States</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Key people</div></th><td class="infobox-data agent">Cindy Thompson, Co-Founder<br>Phil Garfinkel, Co-Founder<br><a href="Francis_deSouza" title="Francis deSouza">Francis deSouza</a>, Chairman<br>John deSouza, CEO<br>Khaled Hassounah, VP of Engineering</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Products</th><td class="infobox-data">"Ask an Expert" forums, "Medical Communities" support forums, "Health Topics" medical dictionary, "MedTalk" doctor blogs</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Website</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="url"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.medhelp.org">www<wbr>.medhelp<wbr>.org</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table>

<p><b>MedHelp</b> was an American <a href="Private_company" class="mw-redirect" title="Private company">private</a> corporation that was founded in February 1994 and pioneered the field of consumer health information and communities on the Internet, before <a href="WebMD" title="WebMD">WebMD</a>, <a href="Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a> or <a href="Yahoo!" class="mw-redirect" title="Yahoo!">Yahoo!</a>.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Overview">Overview</h2></div>

<p>MedHelp partners with doctors from hospitals and medical research institutions to deliver online <a href="Internet_forum" title="Internet forum">discussion boards</a> on healthcare topics. The company's slogan is "Finding Cures Together."

</p><p>In December 2008, MedHelp was ranked 3,090 in the <a href="Alexa_Internet" title="Alexa Internet">Alexa Internet</a> 3 month traffic rankings of all sites on the web and gets over 7 million unique visitors each month.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>

<p>The founders of MedHelp, Cindy Thompson and Phil Garfinkel, met in December 1993, while conducting research in <a href="CompuServe" title="CompuServe">CompuServe's</a> Med-Sig Forum. Both had family members that had struggled with life-threatening illnesses. They discussed the difficulties they encountered in obtaining medical information in lay terminology. Cindy mentioned that one of her dreams was to create a service where patients would be able to contact leading physicians and scientists, who could answer specific questions, in lay terminology, regarding their diagnoses. Based on that vision, they incorporated the company on February 14, 1994 and launched the MedHelp bulletin board system (BBS) on April 1, 1994 with a 386 computer, two modems, and two phone lines.

</p><p>In 1995, MedHelp updated its BBS so that it could also be accessed by the emerging Web browsers. At that point, only a handful of institutions such as the <a href="University_of_Iowa" title="University of Iowa">University of Iowa</a> and <a href="Columbia_University" title="Columbia University">Columbia University</a> School of Medicine delivered health information on the Internet. The <a href="National_Cancer_Institute" title="National Cancer Institute">National Cancer Institute</a> had an FTP presence, but not a Web presence.

</p><p>By August 1995, MedHelp had about 38,000 visitors a month. MedHelp continued to grow and by January 2009, MedHelp was getting over 6 million unique visitors monthly.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Operation">Operation</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Forums">Forums</h3></div>

<p>MedHelp hosts 3 types of forums - "Ask a Doctor" forums, "Health Communities" forums and "International Forums" on healthcare topics such as <a href="Substance_dependence" title="Substance dependence">Addiction</a>, <a href="Allergy" title="Allergy">Allergy</a>, <a href="Cancer" title="Cancer">Cancer</a>, <a href="Cosmetic_Surgery" class="mw-redirect" title="Cosmetic Surgery">Cosmetic Surgery</a>, Dental, <a href="Dermatology" title="Dermatology">Dermatology</a>, Disaster Preparedness, Ear Nose & Throat, Fitness, <a href="Gastroenterology" title="Gastroenterology">Gastroenterology</a>, <a href="Gynecology" class="mw-redirect" title="Gynecology">Gynecology</a>, <a href="Heart" title="Heart">Heart</a>, <a href="Hepatitis" title="Hepatitis">Hepatitis</a>, <a href="HIV" title="HIV">HIV</a>, <a href="Neurology" title="Neurology">Neurology</a>, <a href="Orthopedics" class="mw-redirect" title="Orthopedics">Orthopedics</a>, Pain Management, <a href="Sexually_transmitted_disease" class="mw-redirect" title="Sexually transmitted disease">STD</a>, Weight Loss, Women's Health, Pet Health and <a href="Urology" title="Urology">Urology</a>. The forums are moderated by MedHelp.

In the "Ask a Doctor" forums, users can ask questions to medical specialists from MedHelp's partner institutions like the American Academy of Ophthalmology, <a href="Partners_HealthCare" class="mw-redirect" title="Partners HealthCare">Partners HealthCare</a>, <a href="The_Cleveland_Clinic" class="mw-redirect" title="The Cleveland Clinic">The Cleveland Clinic Foundation</a>, National Jewish Medical & Research Center, <a href="Juvenile_Diabetes_Research_Foundation" class="mw-redirect" title="Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation">Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation</a>, Johns Hopkins, drugstore.com and Mount Sinai Medical Center.

</p><p>The "Ask a Doctor" forum has been shut down since June 2014; MedHelp has not indicated whether or not they plan to reactivate it.

</p><p>In the "Health Communities" forums, users post questions, comments and get responses and support from other users.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Personal_Health_Applications">Personal Health Applications</h3></div>

<p>MedHelp offers a series of Personal Health Applications, including Personal Health Records and Trackers, interactive tools to allow users to manage various conditions and goals such as Weight Management, Exercise, Diabetes, Sleep, Mood, Pain, Ovulation and Pregnancy.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Revenue_model">Revenue model</h3></div>

<p>MedHelp states that its business model is advertisement-based, and advertisers can buy ads directly from MedHelp or through partners such as Google.

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<ul><li><a href="Online_communities" class="mw-redirect" title="Online communities">Online communities</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Sources">Sources</h2></div>

<ul><li><a href="CBS_News" title="CBS News">CBS News</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paperless-rx-for-better-health/">Paperless Rx For Better Health; Oct 29, 2007</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070408034414/http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartcenter/pub/guide/askdoctor/default.asp?firstCat=3&secondCat=307">The Cleveland Clinic Heart & Vascular Institute</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060701170716/http://healthratings.org/">Consumer Reports HealthRatings.org Top 20 Health Information Websites</a></li>

<li><a href="Wall_Street_Journal" class="mw-redirect" title="Wall Street Journal">Wall Street Journal</a>, A Guide to Some of the Internet's Best—And Most Overlooked—Health Sites, By Tara Parker-Pope; Eastern edition; Jul 6, 2004; D.1;</li>

<li><a href="Wall_Street_Journal" class="mw-redirect" title="Wall Street Journal">Wall Street Journal</a>, Can't Get In to See That Famed M.D.? Top Docs Now Keep Office Hours Online, By Tara Parker-Pope; The Wall Street Journal; Eastern edition; Jan 7, 2003; D.1;</li>

<li><a href="Wall_Street_Journal" class="mw-redirect" title="Wall Street Journal">Wall Street Journal</a>, Finding Someone Who Feels Your Pain: Matching Services Connect Sick Patients, By Tara Parker-Pope; The Wall Street Journal; Eastern edition; Dec 17, 2002; D.1;</li>

<li><a href="US_Department_of_State" class="mw-redirect" title="US Department of State">US Dept. of State's</a> Global Issues Magazine, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070319210620/https://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/1100/ijge/gj05.htm">Med Help International: Where There's a Doctor on the Web</a>, November 2000</li>

<li><a href="Time_Magazine" class="mw-redirect" title="Time Magazine">Time Magazine</a>, A Web of Deceit, By Christine Gorman, Health Editor, Monday, Feb. 08, 1999</li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.medhelp.org/">MedHelp site</a></li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-03-01" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=MedHelp&oldid=1278249397">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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