Health 2.0 Company Launch Review Part 3

The term "Health 2.0" describes the interface between web 2.0-inspired technology and health care. The sector is growing rapidly as patients search for ways to navigate the health care system and companies - both large and small - race to serve consumer needs. The annual Health 2.0 Conference in San Francisco (Health 2.0 SF) brings many of the key players under one roof. This year I joined the gathering to learn more about the entrepreneurs, innovators, and consumers doing good work in the Health 2.0 sector and this Justmeans editorial series covers some of the latest companies and products introduced at Health 2.0 SF.

WebMD founder Jeff Arnold impressed the crowd on the first day of Health 2.0 SF with Sharecare - his glossy, corporate-backed, "facebook of health care" product. He even got Dr. Oz to make an appearance before joining Oprah. Surprisingly though, the enthusiasm climbed even higher (for proof, check the peak in Twitter posts of #health2con at 12:15PM via the tweetbeat event tracker) when three men from the federal government stormed the stage.

An hour after Arnold's presentation, Todd Park, Aneesh Chopra, and Peter Levin excitedly stepped to the podium. Actually, "stepped" doesn't quite do it justice. The three men danced to the microphone. Park is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Chopra holds the same title at the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Levin is the same at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The men entered with jive handshakes, chest bumps, and an announcement about the Blue Button initiative.

More of this post on the Blue Button initiative after the jump.

This is the third post in a series on Health 2.0 SF. Check out the previous two posts on a new Dr. Oz-endorsed health care web portal here and here.

Photo credit: Medicare.gov