Health Content Advisors: Surviving the Shakeout in Consumer Health Sites

As reported on August 26, 2008 by Health Content Advisors, a division of InfoCommerce Group:

Earlier this year, Steve Case used the phrase “not for the faint of heart” to describe the environment for producers of online consumer health sites. By now, most readers of this blog have heard that Revolution Health is on the block.  Also, we learned last week that Xoova, a shining star among health 2.0 companies just a year ago, has quietly shut down.   

These events point to a more widespread shakeout in online consumer health sites.  We’re not predicting a collapse in online consumer healthcare resources; the long-term outlook is still very positive.  However, some companies in the most crowded, undifferentiated and geographically dispersed segments (e.g., sites for rating practitioners, general health and wellness sites, and social media sites where patients share experiences) will fail and some will consolidate. It’s a fairly predictable outcome as this hot new market matures ....

For the full report, go to Surviving the Shakeout in Consumer Health Sites.