e-patients.net – For Sale: Revolution Health
Posted by GruntDoc on September 27th, 2008
For Sale: Revolution Health
Why is Steve Case’s online health venture already looking to sell itself, just a year and a half after it launched? Yet another tale of hubris in the e-health sector.
John Grohol at e-patients.net has a very good post about the problems of medical startups on the web. It’s well written and informative, including his perspective from having been in the same boat before.
I do think he’s missed the other act of hubris, that fundamental change in our medical system can be brought about by a company with a professional website, writers with credentials, etc. That’s good for entertainment, so far as it goes, but it’s not a terrifically efficient way to shape healthcare policy. (The New York Times has all those things, works hard to affect policy, and is not very effective at getting their ideas enacted as national policy. Also, the NYT has deep pockets and has been engaged in the arena for a very long time, demonstrating the long time horizon necessary to have influence).
This puts Dr. Val’s blog homelessness into perspective (but I wonder what’s to become of some of the others)?