The Internet has become everyone’s number one source of health information – see chart – but what will the next level be?

How about:

eBay for doctors – You bid for their services and then rate them afterwards

Crowdsourcing data about new treatments? This is covered in a recent study by the California Healthcare Foundation looked at “The Wisdom of Patients: Healthcare meets online Social Media“.

Cure by Dr. YouTube –

“Mike Bonifer, author of GameChangers – Improvisation for Business in the Networked World, tells his personal story about Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). Bonifer had come down with the illness, which is not terribly serious, at the same time as his accountant. But the two had completely different experiences in treating the ailment.

The accountant used the existing health system to get cured–he went to a number of different specialists, and spent $6,000, to get everything sorted out.

Bonifer Googled his symptoms for a few hours, and found a YouTube video of a treatment known as the Epley Maneuver. Then, in a move that will strike fear into the hearts of the insurance companies and malpractice-fearing physicians alike, he followed the instructions in the video and cured himself.”

(Bonifer anecdote from Fastcompany)