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Social media—from Facebook to LinkedIn to Match.com—has made it both possible and acceptable for people to share very personal information about themselves with people all over the world. In few places, is it more important to share relevant information than in healthcare. Consumers—especially those facing health issues—from losing weight to life threatening illness—naturally reach out to a community. For information. For support. And to share experiences.

Is it possible to use this idea of social—and community—to help consumers better manage their own health? It is not only possible, it happens every day when three requirements are met!

• Information is private and secure
• Communities are easy to find, enter and exit
• Members receive value

Secure data. The first key to combining “social and health,” is that consumer information is located behind a HIPAA-compliant firewall. HIPAA restricts how Protected Health Information (PHI) is seen and used. The second key is that the consumer can share information anonymously. And the last “security” key is that the consumer controls access to his or her own information and decides who sees that information.

Accessible. Communities must also be easily accessible. Finding the right community to join can be like a princess searching for her prince. She can kiss a lot of frogs before “true love’s kiss” brings her a prince. The best communities are those that find the user intelligently by “matching” consumers to communities. And of course a consumer must be able to exit a community as easily as one joins it.

Value.  Consumers join communities to get something valuable out of them, and to share information in honest, meaningful ways on topics that are interesting to them. They stay because they have fingertip access to valuable research and information from within the community, WHILE they are thinking about it.

The marriage of social and health is long lasting. Marrying social and health—the right way—brings new benefits to the health consumer. Through secure, easy and valuable online communities, consumers no longer have to face their challenges alone; they can use groups or individuals across the world to help them stay on track to a healthier life.

What do you think about social and health?