WebMD Health Manager - Health Site Guide

Web MD Health Manager
WebMD Health Manager provides a confidential online place to track your vital health statistics, such as your blood sugar and cholesterol levels, as well as health management advice tailored to your individual health needs. The service is available free for the first six months, and then for $29.95 per year.

The first step after registration (credit card required) is to fill out a personal health inventory, which asks for detailed information, including lab report findings. The Manager then lists your personal health risks, sends you news reports consistent with your diagnoses or condition, keeps track of when you’re due for preventive health screening, and recommends lifestyle changes that increase fitness, improve nutrition and help you manage stress.

You can maintain detailed records of your vital health statistics, such as daily blood sugar levels for diabetics, or cholesterol levels for heart patients, using the service. The Manager also enables you to keep all of your health records, and all of your family’s health records, in one online location. This includes records of inoculations, hospitalizations, injuries, doctor and dentist visits.

Owing to the personal and potentially sensitive nature of the information stored, the website states, “At WebMD, we take the issue of privacy very seriously.” There are also assurances of confidentiality elsewhere on the site, and endorsements from some outside organizations that are said to protect consumer privacy. The website itself begins on a secured page, such as those used by online merchants for credit card sales. Potential users are urged to read the site’s privacy policy before signing up.

WebMD is a provider health information services for consumers, physicians, employers and health plans based in New York City.

Last modified: 20 Sep 2006.