Part one defined Web 2.0 and discussed components and features leading to the niche advent of Health 2.0.

Health 2.0 loosely defined is the integrated participation of individuals (patients) and stakeholders characteristically sharing, classifying and summarizing health information with the goal of improving health care systems, experiences and outcomes.

What are the uses of Health 2.0?

Little empirical evidence has surfaced on general use of Web 2.0, but Wikipedia reports that studies show more than 330,000 Americans have searched for and have been helped by health care information they have located online. Further, research suggests that approximately 245,000 physicians across the U.S. have adopted Web 2.0 into their practices. E-learning activity has grown exponentially and appears impossible to calculate as a statistic.

Here's what is happening in Health 2.0:
* Patients and medical professionals are using RSS feeds, podcasts and search findings to stay informed
* Patients and medical professionals use podcasts, webcasts and teleseminars to learn about conditions, treatments and gain awareness
* Medical professionals are using search tools and communication capabilities to find information, collaborate and make diagnostic decisions, and
*Patients use search tools to manage long-term illnesses or learn more about newly diagnosed conditions.

Help or hindrance
Initiatives like Health 2.0 are bound to create controversy. Smart advantages that come to mind include keeping and tracking personal medical data and a record-reporting facility to hand-off to new care providers.

But tensions exist, security for one. With hacking now recognized as a veritable profession by the technology industry, access to private data is a big concern. Further, the insurance industry stranglehold on medical data could prove an adversary.

Carol McCall, VP Research and Development, Humana Inc. thinks the trend in health care points to more at-home testing systems: blood pressure, glucose levels, DNA and cardiovascular health. The tension comes in who and how the results are translated, integrated and accessed in Health 2.0.

Last, an idea is being discussed by Dr. Joanna Mountain, senior director of research at 23andMe, marketers of a genetic home testing kit, to open a large community to participate in informational clinical studies. With personal test results in the files, she asks, why couldn't everyone who chooses participate?

Evolution of Health 2.0 will continue, but will it create a "contagion" of health across its neural net? Well, take 2.0 and call in the morning.

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