I have bad knees. I have had 4 knee surgeries in the past 7 years and am three months out from a tibial osteotomy. Leading up to my last surgery, I spent hours researching the procedure in an attempt to find out what to expect...how long would I be on crutches, how long should I stay home from work, will I be able to go for a jog again? All these questions were answered by people who had been through what I was about to go through and shared their experiences online. I found the info very helpful and reassuring.
The info I found was on a few random blogs and message boards, a far cry from sites like Sermo and PatientsLikeMe. As the HBR article talks about, online health-related sharing sites are great places where the collective experiences of a large number of people can be organized and used for the better. Not only can the data be used by practitioners to improve treatments, but it gives patients the hope and motivation that their sickness or injury is treatable and others have overcome it in the past. I couldn't believe doctors have consulted Sermo while performing surgery... that is just crazy. To borrow a term from last week's readings, I doubt 10 years ago many doctors would believe me if I told them it was possible to crowdsource surgical advice.
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