Institute For The Future

Putting in context another newly-launched health-related social networking site

Trusera--a website that allows people to share their real-world health experiences--launched last month. Its tag is "Come experience the Power of Been There." When I first came across the announcement on the bbgm blog, I wondered what would set Tujera apart from similar sites, like Daily Strength or iMedix, which I blogged about here.

Unlike DailyStrength, Trusera is not organized around specific diseases or health issues. It uses a matching tool to help users find each other. Its founder, Keith Schorsch, comes from Amazon.com, and Trusera offers recommendation features similar to Amazon's to rate the health information its users share. iMedix also allows members of its community to rank content, and it provides a search engine that accesses top health information sources on the web. Both Trusera and iMedix seem to place a greater emphasis on practical advice, rather than the emotional support aspect that DailyStrength is known for. (See this post for a condition-specific comparison of Trusera and iMedix.)

The story of why Keith Schorsch created Trusera is an interesting one. From the website:

 

The Bite that Led to Trusera

In 2004, . . . Schorsch was diagnosed with Lyme Disease after he was bitten by a tick on the East Coast. After seeing 11 doctors, he had plenty of expert opinions. He found lots of information online. What he didn’t have was honest, credible insight from real people. People who could share their personal stories and offer relevant and useful health information. People who’d been there.

 

Of course, Trusera is not the only bottom-up instance of a patient starting a popular health-related website. There are several examples in the diabetes world--from SugarStats.com (which I blogged about a few days ago) to TuDiabetes. Another well-regarded grassroots site is I'm Too Young for This, which is targeted at people under 40 with cancer; the site was founded by Matthew Zachary, who was diagnosed with brain cancer at age 21. PatientsLikeMe was started by the brothers of Steven Heywood after he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's diesease.

It remains to be seen how successful Trusera will be in what is becoming a bit of a crowded field; health-related social networking sites seem to be proliferating (check out WEGOHealth, MedHelp, HopeCube, Healia, TauMed, MDJunction, and ICYou.) But Schorsch certainly has his supporters. In the past year, he has raised $2mil in angel funding from the likes of the former president of Expedia and executives at Amazon.com and Wahington Mutual.