Listen to this articlePatientTalk is a video-centric health care website for patients, caregivers and informed users to learn about life altering medical diagnoses, both acute and chronic. Their network-quality video site features real patients and leading health care professionals talking to the viewer, sharing vital information about the practical, physical and emotional issues that patients face before, during and after an initial diagnosis. What differentiates them from their competitors in the health information space is their belief in the power of the patient’s voice, sharing their personal medical journeys with diagnoses like Breast Cancer, Obesity, Back Pain, Joint Replacements and Lyme disease. In addition each diagnosis series features the advice of top medical experts in their respective fields.
Below is our interview with John Symes, the founder and CEO of PatientTalk:
Q: What is Patient Talk?
A: At its core, Patient Talk is an educational and aspirational website created for patients, caregivers, and loved ones to better understand how patients respond to the discovery of a disease, how to treat it and deal with the side effects that come with it, as well as providing key support and communication tools to get everyone involved in the uncharted waters of dealing with a difficult diagnosis, be it critical (Breast Cancer) or chronic (Obesity). All of our original content has been produced in-house and is exclusively distributed on PatientTalk.com.
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Q: Tell us about what you’ll be sharing at Stanford Medicine X.
A: For the first time, we will be able to present how PatientTalk.com works and share a small sample of our content with influential leaders and innovators that are drawn to important healthcare conferences like Stanford Medicine X. In our allotted time on the ePatient and Caregiver Stories panel we will share a video on how we created our website called, “Why the Time is Right for PatientTalk”. In addition, we will share a number of our videos from our breast cancer series that will graphically illustrate the uniqueness of PatientTalk’s format and how it is differentiated from information offerings available on the web today. These particular videos inform the viewer on the role that family history plays in a breast cancer diagnosis, what to expect during chemotherapy, how the loss of your hair is a moment you won’t forget and how to talk to your children about your breast cancer diagnosis. We will also talk about additional features that we intend to launch as we expand our platform.
Q: Can you give us more insights into your platform?
A: First and foremost, when you think of PatientTalk.com, think video, video and more video. Each series we have produced has over five hours of informational programming. We feature short form videos that cover the key details of a medical journey — from the discovery process, through treatment, side effects that come from the treatment and finally information about support and communication. In addition, we offer long form “stories’ from each of our patient contributors, caregivers and medical experts. These videos are presented in a “20/20” documentary style and can run anywhere from eight to fifteen minutes in length each, and offer up-close and personal reflections from all of our contributors.
In addition, we intend to build an online support group service where we will connect patients and caregivers with similar people going through the same experience. Unlike traditional chat rooms (that are often more destructive than helpful) our support groups will connect those in need through video and each session will be professionally facilitated by a licensed therapist or social worker. We will also offer a PatientTalk news service where we will cover the latest developments in the medical world and offer up our PatientTalk take from our medical editors, again using video as our tool for communication as we break down the latest medical news in a way that helps our viewers best understand what it means to them.
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Q: What makes PatientTalk.com a good choice?
A: PatientTalk will have patients speak to patients. We intend to provide our viewers the important information they will need during their medical journey in a way they can understand. It will be provided by their own peers…patients just like themselves! We do not intend to compete with traditional text driven health information websites. We offer a more personal form of education and deliver an experience that is immersive and, most of all, honest. We have created a site that allows our users to easily navigate to areas of importance to them and will remind them where they left off when they return to the site. Video has taken over the Internet, but healthcare websites have not yet broken through for the next generation. Yes, you can see video on the MayoClinic.com, but virtually all of it is peer-to-peer information for the medical community. Our consumer research has more than provided us with a proof of concept with overwhelming positive results. 93% of our survey audience found PatientTalk.com honest, relevant and realistic, 92% said they would share our content with others, 90% said they would return to the site and 86% found our site better that the competition. Patient Talk will inform and inspire our viewers to be the best patients they can be.
Q: What are your plans for next six months?
A: We just completed our fifth series, Lyme Disease, which will premiere on PatientTalk.com this week. In the next few months we intend to produce series on Type 1 & 2 Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Migraines, Sleep Disorders, Infertility & Acne among others. We will be stepping up our marketing efforts and continue to build a winning story for future investment and partnerships. With each series we have produced we learn more and more about how to be better at our job of providing the best healthcare information video in the marketplace. We believe in the power of the best casting a producer can find…real patients sharing the ups and downs of their medical journey…their fears and expectations…and how they found a way to take their medical issue on and come out the other side better for their experience!
