Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Facebook is currently considering entering the healthcare field by creating online support communities to connect social media users dealing with the same medical conditions, as well as launching new preventative care applications to help people improve their overall well-being, according to media reports published late last week.
Reuters reporters Christina Farr and Alexei Oreskovic, who broke the story on Friday, cited three sources familiar with the matter who requested anonymity since Facebook’s plans are still in development. Should those plans come to fruition, the social network would join fellow tech giants Apple and Google in the growing field of healthcare-related content.
The sources told Farr and Oreskovic that Facebook officials have been meeting with medical industry experts and entrepreneurs over the past several months, and is in the process of establishing an R&D team to test new health apps. While healthcare has long been an interest for the social media website, it has only recently come to realize that it might help draw people to the network, though Reuters noted Facebook is still “in the idea-gathering stage.”
Details about Facebook’s plans “are limited,” added Mashable’s Samantha Murphy Kelly, but reports also suggest the company might launch its health app under a different name in order to ease potential privacy concerns about users. She added that the website has been scrutinized for various privacy-related issues, including its role in a recent research study that manipulated users’ emotions.
“The news comes as at a time when other companies like Google and Apple are dabbling with health and fitness data,” Kelly explained. “Apple recently launched its Health app, a hub for iOS 8 users to keep track of fitness goals and health-related information, and Google is working on Google Fit for Android that tracks similar data across various platforms and wearables.”
While the Mashable reporter pointed out that it might seem unusual for Facebook to test the waters of the healthcare content field, the Reuters reporters wrote that the unexpected success of the website’s organ donor status initiative that was launched two years ago could be a factor.
“Separately, Facebook product teams noticed that people with chronic ailments such as diabetes would search the social networking site for advice,” one former Facebook insider told the news organization. “In addition, the proliferation of patient networks such as PatientsLikeMe demonstrate that people are increasingly comfortable sharing symptoms and treatment experiences online,” Farr and Oreskovic added.
If and when Facebook launches its new healthcare app and/or online support communities, the advertising built around those programs will be vastly different than those commonly seen in print or broadcast forms of media, Reuters explained. For example, pharmaceutical companies are barred from using social media to promote the sale of prescription drugs, largely due to privacy concerns related to medical disclosures.
“It remains unclear whether Facebook will moderate or curate the content shared in the support communities, or bring in outside medical experts to provide context,” said Farr and Oreskovic. The reporters said that Facebook officials declined to comment on any potential healthcare-related plans for the social network.
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