Two new health related services came our way this morning; they couldn’t be more different but both could prove useful.
The first is Healthline’s new Symptom Search. The successful online medical resource site Heathline has added a new search function that is definitely worth a look. Symptom search lets you enter one or multiple symptoms you’re experiencing and displays licenced articles from medical professionals about conditions that could be causing those symptoms. It’s an elegant tool that brings back results ranging from conditions that could cause just the symptoms you identify through more serious conditions that could be indicated by other symptoms in addition to the ones you’ve identified.
For example, if you type in “cough” you’ll be shown first an article explaining that “Coughing is an important way to keep your throat and airways clear. However, excessive coughing may mean you have an underlying disease or disorder.” Subsequent articles become increasingly serious; if for example you are actually experiencing a cough, sharp rib pain, a fever and you’re hot to the touch then you should check out the article on Bronchitis.
Symptom search is integrated into Healthline’s primary search function and has a page of its own. The company claims it’s got the first symptom search service on the web. Whether that’s true or not, this one looks particularly good. This is a great example of quality vertical search that’s likely to be used extensively.
If you’re in need of a more social solution - CheckTonight is a new service which purports to offer online verification of negative STD test results from your doctor. (Your test results via your doctor, that is, your doctor’s night life is none of any one’s business.)
CheckTonight users print up a medical release form, take it to their doctor’s office and presuming your test results are negative you can become a CheckTonight member. (For a $25 annual fee - that’s like the cost of 5 drinks at a bar!) Members must be retested every 6 months and positive test results are never stored in the system. Then, when you’re getting frisky with someone you’ve just met - you can get a text message from CheckTonight verifying that you’re Doctor-certified STD free! (For an additional $3 fee per text message.) If you don’t make the cut at CheckTonight, see our coverage of Prescription4Love.
I don’t know about you, but I either trust some one’s word or I don’t - no text message delivered to their phone is going to convince me to change my sexual practices. But let’s not get into that here - I’m as good as married anyway.
If Facebook offered a service like this, it might have legs. Maybe. Some things just aren’t meant to be web services though and I’d contend that STD status confirmation is one of them.
Marshall Kirkpatrick is the Director of Content at SplashCast and will be assisting with TechCrunch while Michael Arrington travels. Marshall does not have a cough or any STDs, in case you were wondering.
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Great Service.Really good.If they could give a free service for starting or a package where users can get some discount it will be good.25$ is not much but 3$ per text message??
They can attract more users by some good scheme or something.I would still like to go to a real dr going this way will need more things to make me think
$3 per text message seems a little pricey. I guess it depends on the conversion rate once the text messages are received.
You’ve got a couple of misspellings in your story (licsenced, proffesionals).
Thanks Bill, sorry about that - I’ll have to enter “disoriented” in SymptomSearch and see if it recommends “more coffee.”
Yes, they really have to find a reputable source that everyone knows about to partner with for the STD Check service. Like the US government (won’t happen) or C. Everett Koop.
Next up will be the jokey STD-Check services where you get a boilerplate email from Paris Hilton, Linsday Lohan, or Screech.
Actually not a bad idea. Sexual studs and stud-ettes could get ex-partners to register and vote at a celebrity ‘ho site to vouch for your virility and ability in the sack.
Call it Kissr.
“I either trust someone or I don’t”
Yeah, but you’re a guy. It isn’t the same for girls. Guys will say anything when they’re trying to get in your pants. It would be nice to be able to make sure their promises of health aren’t just the usual blather.
And I’d rather pay for a $3 text than for Valtrex for the rest of my life.
Touche! But would you trust a text message saying it’s safe?
I feel old, and like I missed out on something, which in this case maybe a good thing…
I agree with Amanda, you don’t want to make a one night mistake turn into a lifelong consequence. As the CheckTonight.com website emphasizes (as do many other reputable medical professionals), that the rise in transfer of STD’s such as herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea and the clap are rising because the average individual seems to think they are immune to such infections. HIV/Aids is obviously the largest concern amongst social groups when STD discussions are brought up, yet how many people actively get tested on a regular basis? My assumption is fewer than 25% of sexually active individuals in Canada, never mind the world. As for this service, I think it offers a unique system in which to protect yourself, and your loved ones.
$3/ text message does sounds steep, however, how frequently do you plan on using the service that it would actually become a financial burden? Better yet; what value do you place on your sexual health?
So long as the service is reputable with the medical professionals providing test results, and maintaining the privacy of the individuals using the service, I will support CheckTonight.com to keep me busy at night.
Check tonight is medically unwise since the data it reports can be outdated in the 45 minutes it takes to go from the doctors office to pick up a hooker.
In fact it will encourage lying by allowing one to have a healthy status report on line but if they get a ‘bug’ they become aware of, (some ‘bugs ‘ have no symptoms) they can easilly go to some urgent care clinic and get a few antibiotic tablets…all totally unknown to the system …meanwhile there is no reason to cancle that evening out at the picl up bar.
CheckTonight.com sounds like a great concept to me, and guys lie all the time about this stuff just to get laid. Believe me I know.
I didn’t have the option of 25 dollars a year for this and now I’m spending twice that a month for Valtrex! Yes, genital herpes. My bf in college told me he was fine and that he had been tested and for a time, we always used condoms anyway. When we were committed, we let them slide once in a while. Then I got a horrible outbreak from what I learned to be genital herpes. Now I will have it for the rest of my life. I could go on here about how everyone in school found out about it, but I don’t care to re-live it or make you suffer through it.
The reality is that guys don’t care about STDs, especially genital herpes. Their symptoms are usually fewer and they just don’t want to know. I know my bf wasn’t tested and he lied about it. This at least holds people accountable for getting tested, because that is what’s required.
And 3 dollars? Come on, that’s less than a half a drink in NYC. I’ll gladly pay it. By the way, I work for a major bank in NYC and we are offering text messaging service soon for access to account info and many do already in the UK. SMS is actually pretty hard to crack.
Symptom Search is a great idea. The challenge is being comprehensive such that typical symptoms are comprehensively and accurately mapped (in relevant order) to possible diseases and vice versa.
Just for fun, I tried a couple of not uncommon symptom searches related to actual problems people I know have experienced recently. For example, one person I know experienced chronic tendonitis in reaction to being treated with Cipro. Unfortunately there were no results in Symptom Search that relate these to subjects.
I also had a recent experience with someone who experienced sudden hearing loss as the result of an ear infection however the system was not correlate the two and didn’t serve any relevant information.
This is a very technically challenging problem and one I believe requires a search metaphor and deep technology to address in a way that is meaningfull to the consumer. (Follow link at the top to my Lightpseed blog post about Vertical Search as a way to better address these types of research oriented searches).
Also, try the following two searches on the Kosmix Health Search portal (full disclosure, Lightpseed is an investor).
http://www.kosmix.com/health/d.....ndonitis-s
http://www.kosmix.com/health/s.....fection-s?
I typed in simple search requests such as “Sudden Hearing Loss” and “Cipro Tendonitis” and got back a wealth of topics and articles that linked these symptoms to their underlying cuases and also to potential treatments and doctors.
Health Vertical Search is a challenging problem but one, if well solved, that could yield substantial consumer benefits as well as create a company of significant value.
The first symptom search function on the web? I am a medical student and utilize plenty of websites that give a differential diagnosis (FirstConsult, Up to Date, etc.) Not sure what they are claiming, maybe I am mistaken. Of course those services all require a subscription, so maybe this is the first one that is free? Also, it seems to be very limited. For instance, a search for Edema only returns 9 results, although the first result does give a differential list. Doesn’t WebMD do that as well though (I never use it). I personally think wikipedia is the best symptom searcher out there and use it every day!
I am a nurse, so I understand that the “shelf-lives” for test results aren’t always very long. But the reality is that most people aren’t tested at all and prefer to ignore the issue altogether. From what I have seen, those who are being tested are paranoid about STDs and insist (or they report to) on using condoms all the time.
I would however, guarantee that most members to their website are going to be much better than most. People do lie about this all the time, because they know there’s no easy way to check to see if your partner was actually tested. You would need a court subpoena to access their medical records and by then it would be too late anyway. Getting tested and making sure your partner is tested is essential. So I say, since it will encourage people to be tested more often and wake them up to the fact that STDs can be serious, then it’s a great thing. If this is another preventative tool in the box in addition to the condom, then great!
“Touche! But would you trust a text message saying it’s safe?”
I guess I’d have to see how they did the text messaging, but I think I would. The text messages I get from Verizon and my bank come from some weird 12 digit number, not a regular phone number.
I understand Albert’s point that the results aren’t guaranteed, but it’s better than nothing. And at least it’s an indication that they HAVE been tested. So few people are, even though they claim to be.
Part of the problem in making this widely used will be that both parties have to be aware of CheckTonight. What good is it for some guy to tell a girl, “hey, I’m clean. You should text me to CheckTonight….” if she doesn’t know what it is. Conversely, the opposite can be true: “Hey, let me check you out on using the service, CheckTonight.” “What’s that?”
Even worse, people who are not medically cleared to be deemed “safe” by CheckTonight can deny knowing the service exists since the results back would say something to the affect of “Unknown” as opposed to “You’ll regret this in a couple weeks”.
So, the only way it works is if two people who are aware of the site come to the consensus that it’s a trustworthy way to screen each other. That’s going to be a hard community to build.
I don’t understand how this helps a whit if you only have to be re-tested every six months.
I could go get “certified” STD-Free tonight, go party with a crack-whore, get herpes and give herpes to people for the next six months before i lose my “certification”.
AM I missing something?
Obviously no method is foolproof. If you got checked 6 months ago its certainly not perfect, however, I know several people who have had multiple partners and have never been tested. In any case, 6 months is a lot better than several years. People who get tested are also likely engaging in safer practices generally as a result of a disposition towards low risk behaviour as evidenced by their getting tested.
Overall its a great service and $3 per text message isn’t very costly compared to the consequences of getting std’s or sti’s. If you can’t afford $3 to get laid safely you must not want it that badly. What would you prefer? sex or a happy meal? nuff said.
‘Hey baby, check out this text message, Im clean…’ (READ: Serious Liability & Unsafe Sex). FORTUNATELY CheckTonight plans on changing human behavior… and will most certainly fail in the marketplace for ideas.
BUT raising awareness of safe sex practices is a good thing! And a ‘viral’ campaign is in order.
Here is how it could work:
People could earn and then display a “safe sex - get tested” trustmark logo on their myspace or facebook page. This would get serious media attention, promote a worthy cause, and prevent much suffering.
One could ‘earn’ the logo by viewing a short FUN safe sex video and answering 3 questions. They could also be directed to the nearest FREE std clinic mashed up on a google map. The site might even turn a small profit with ads from Trojan or Durex.
The animated logo would hopefully go viral… inviting others to get the logo for themselves.
This type of service is sorely needed for the myspace generation.
[SPAM FLAG #11] “Katie S” looks like CheckTonight spam… shady practices = shady company.
“Marshall does not have a cough or any STDs, in case you were wondering.”
Lol i hope so
I’d really like to see centralized health databases. Its hard to keep track of what you have and haven’t had, how you’ve been treated, etc. when its all in paper files scattered around a multitude of different doctors offices.
CheckTonight is an interesting attempt to use technology to address the serious public health issue of STDs. More experimentation and innovative use of technology in public health should be encouraged. As many on this forum have pointed out, health is an extremely complex domain. Deep knowledge and experience in healthcare and public health are critical for companies developing applications in these areas.
nice!