Vivacare, the web-based patient education service, is about to launch a new service that will display the content on mobile devices and organize the dermatology content into Disease Education Centers, where physicians and their patients can access all of the company’s handouts on a particular condition.
“Vivacare is advancing its goal to help physicians educate patients about their conditions and their treatment plans,” explains Mark Becker, MD, a pediatrician in California who founded Vivacare.
The Service
To utilize Vivacare, physicians enroll online for a free account that offers hundreds of patient education handouts, videos and support tools that can be displayed on the physician’s own website, viewed on a mobile device, or printed in the office. Physicians can select which topics they want to provide and personalize the handouts with their own name.
Vivacare provides a “plug-in” that makes it easy to display the content right on the physician’s website. The content, typically housed under a “Patient Education” page, enhances the website with in-depth educational resources.
“Patients searching for health information online prefer to learn from the person they trust most with their medical care,” says Dr. Becker.
When patients click on this page, they can pick which topic they want to learn more about. By selecting a topic, the patient is directed to the Vivacare page with the handout. A link appears at the top of the page that allows the patient to return to the doctor’s homepage.
An article published in this journal in 2008 described Vivacare as an “Internet- based healthcare library.”1 The same article goes on to describe the unique, topic-based resource pages as places where “patients can gather information about diagnoses, treatments and prognoses of these conditions, and join support groups, browse through books on the subject and download self-care handouts.”1
Resources in Dermatology
Dermatologists can access handouts on a variety of cutaneous topics, Dr. Becker explains. There are a multitude of handouts about common conditions like acne, skin cancer and psoriasis, as well as information about topics like fungal infections, pemphigus vulgaris, hemangiomas and more. Currently, there are about 4,000 dermatologists enrolled in Vivacare, Dr. Becker reports. In July 2013, Vivacare will be launching new centers on the site, which will allow the physician to view information on a specific disease in one location. These centers are being referred to as Disease Education Centers.
“When we launch our new service, the content will be organized into centers,” Dr. Becker explains. “There will be an acne center, an eczema center, a rosacea center, a psoriasis center and a skin cancer center. Everything related to those areas will be integrated together.”
Information about the other, less common topics in dermatology will still be available as stand-alone handouts and materials, Dr. Becker explains. He estimates the dermatology content will expand to about 300 handouts when the new service launches. Dermatologists can also provide information about non-dermatology topics, such as the flu vaccine or weight loss, if they choose. When the new features of Vivacare launch, so will a new web address for the service: www.informationrx.com.
Where the Information Comes From
The patient education content available through Vivacare is either authored by individuals inside the company, written with an editor and a physician, or through well known, medical organizations. For dermatology, resources come from associations like the American Academy of Dermatology, the National Rosacea Society, the National Psoriasis Foundation and more.
According to Dr. Becker, the handouts also provide patients with links to these organizations, where they can go for additional information.
“Vivacare partners with medical organizations to deliver disease state information through its service, reaching patients when they are in greatest need for resources,” says Dr. Becker.
The content may also be authored by the physicians themselves, he continues. Physicians can use Vivacare’s new publishing tools to customize the content with their personalized patient handouts or supplement a Vivacare handout with their own comments that Vivacare refers to as their “expert opinion.”
“We want to enable physicians to share their professional perspective in their own words with their patients and community,” says Dr. Becker.
For example, some dermatologists have shared their expert opinion regarding the use of bleach baths for eczema, or biologics as a treatment for psoriasis.
Looking Forward
Vivacare is available to all physicians in the United States. Dermatology physician assistants (PAs) can also sign up, and, according to Dr. Becker, an increasing number of dermatology PAs are taking advantage of the resource.
There is no advertising on the site. Vivacare works with pharmaceutical companies by distributing disease state or product information under the appropriate medical topic or center, Dr. Becker explains. In addition, if the physician does not prescribe a drug that is discussed in the acne resource center, for example, the physician can remove it.
Vivacare will continue to upgrade the content with new educational materials that becomes available and assist doctors or their office managers in integrating the Vivacare service into the practice workflow and the website.
“At the end of the day, we want doctors to know that they have an in-depth resource available for their patients and be able to tell them, ‘Go to my website to learn more about your diagnosis and treatment,’” Dr. Becker says.
Vivacare, the web-based patient education service, is about to launch a new service that will display the content on mobile devices and organize the dermatology content into Disease Education Centers, where physicians and their patients can access all of the company’s handouts on a particular condition.
“Vivacare is advancing its goal to help physicians educate patients about their conditions and their treatment plans,” explains Mark Becker, MD, a pediatrician in California who founded Vivacare.
The Service
To utilize Vivacare, physicians enroll online for a free account that offers hundreds of patient education handouts, videos and support tools that can be displayed on the physician’s own website, viewed on a mobile device, or printed in the office. Physicians can select which topics they want to provide and personalize the handouts with their own name.
Vivacare provides a “plug-in” that makes it easy to display the content right on the physician’s website. The content, typically housed under a “Patient Education” page, enhances the website with in-depth educational resources.
“Patients searching for health information online prefer to learn from the person they trust most with their medical care,” says Dr. Becker.
When patients click on this page, they can pick which topic they want to learn more about. By selecting a topic, the patient is directed to the Vivacare page with the handout. A link appears at the top of the page that allows the patient to return to the doctor’s homepage.
An article published in this journal in 2008 described Vivacare as an “Internet- based healthcare library.”1 The same article goes on to describe the unique, topic-based resource pages as places where “patients can gather information about diagnoses, treatments and prognoses of these conditions, and join support groups, browse through books on the subject and download self-care handouts.”1
Resources in Dermatology
Dermatologists can access handouts on a variety of cutaneous topics, Dr. Becker explains. There are a multitude of handouts about common conditions like acne, skin cancer and psoriasis, as well as information about topics like fungal infections, pemphigus vulgaris, hemangiomas and more. Currently, there are about 4,000 dermatologists enrolled in Vivacare, Dr. Becker reports. In July 2013, Vivacare will be launching new centers on the site, which will allow the physician to view information on a specific disease in one location. These centers are being referred to as Disease Education Centers.
“When we launch our new service, the content will be organized into centers,” Dr. Becker explains. “There will be an acne center, an eczema center, a rosacea center, a psoriasis center and a skin cancer center. Everything related to those areas will be integrated together.”
Information about the other, less common topics in dermatology will still be available as stand-alone handouts and materials, Dr. Becker explains. He estimates the dermatology content will expand to about 300 handouts when the new service launches. Dermatologists can also provide information about non-dermatology topics, such as the flu vaccine or weight loss, if they choose. When the new features of Vivacare launch, so will a new web address for the service: www.informationrx.com.
Where the Information Comes From
The patient education content available through Vivacare is either authored by individuals inside the company, written with an editor and a physician, or through well known, medical organizations. For dermatology, resources come from associations like the American Academy of Dermatology, the National Rosacea Society, the National Psoriasis Foundation and more.
According to Dr. Becker, the handouts also provide patients with links to these organizations, where they can go for additional information.
“Vivacare partners with medical organizations to deliver disease state information through its service, reaching patients when they are in greatest need for resources,” says Dr. Becker.
The content may also be authored by the physicians themselves, he continues. Physicians can use Vivacare’s new publishing tools to customize the content with their personalized patient handouts or supplement a Vivacare handout with their own comments that Vivacare refers to as their “expert opinion.”
“We want to enable physicians to share their professional perspective in their own words with their patients and community,” says Dr. Becker.
For example, some dermatologists have shared their expert opinion regarding the use of bleach baths for eczema, or biologics as a treatment for psoriasis.
Looking Forward
Vivacare is available to all physicians in the United States. Dermatology physician assistants (PAs) can also sign up, and, according to Dr. Becker, an increasing number of dermatology PAs are taking advantage of the resource.
There is no advertising on the site. Vivacare works with pharmaceutical companies by distributing disease state or product information under the appropriate medical topic or center, Dr. Becker explains. In addition, if the physician does not prescribe a drug that is discussed in the acne resource center, for example, the physician can remove it.
Vivacare will continue to upgrade the content with new educational materials that becomes available and assist doctors or their office managers in integrating the Vivacare service into the practice workflow and the website.
“At the end of the day, we want doctors to know that they have an in-depth resource available for their patients and be able to tell them, ‘Go to my website to learn more about your diagnosis and treatment,’” Dr. Becker says.
Vivacare, the web-based patient education service, is about to launch a new service that will display the content on mobile devices and organize the dermatology content into Disease Education Centers, where physicians and their patients can access all of the company’s handouts on a particular condition.
“Vivacare is advancing its goal to help physicians educate patients about their conditions and their treatment plans,” explains Mark Becker, MD, a pediatrician in California who founded Vivacare.
The Service
To utilize Vivacare, physicians enroll online for a free account that offers hundreds of patient education handouts, videos and support tools that can be displayed on the physician’s own website, viewed on a mobile device, or printed in the office. Physicians can select which topics they want to provide and personalize the handouts with their own name.
Vivacare provides a “plug-in” that makes it easy to display the content right on the physician’s website. The content, typically housed under a “Patient Education” page, enhances the website with in-depth educational resources.
“Patients searching for health information online prefer to learn from the person they trust most with their medical care,” says Dr. Becker.
When patients click on this page, they can pick which topic they want to learn more about. By selecting a topic, the patient is directed to the Vivacare page with the handout. A link appears at the top of the page that allows the patient to return to the doctor’s homepage.
An article published in this journal in 2008 described Vivacare as an “Internet- based healthcare library.”1 The same article goes on to describe the unique, topic-based resource pages as places where “patients can gather information about diagnoses, treatments and prognoses of these conditions, and join support groups, browse through books on the subject and download self-care handouts.”1
Resources in Dermatology
Dermatologists can access handouts on a variety of cutaneous topics, Dr. Becker explains. There are a multitude of handouts about common conditions like acne, skin cancer and psoriasis, as well as information about topics like fungal infections, pemphigus vulgaris, hemangiomas and more. Currently, there are about 4,000 dermatologists enrolled in Vivacare, Dr. Becker reports. In July 2013, Vivacare will be launching new centers on the site, which will allow the physician to view information on a specific disease in one location. These centers are being referred to as Disease Education Centers.
“When we launch our new service, the content will be organized into centers,” Dr. Becker explains. “There will be an acne center, an eczema center, a rosacea center, a psoriasis center and a skin cancer center. Everything related to those areas will be integrated together.”
Information about the other, less common topics in dermatology will still be available as stand-alone handouts and materials, Dr. Becker explains. He estimates the dermatology content will expand to about 300 handouts when the new service launches. Dermatologists can also provide information about non-dermatology topics, such as the flu vaccine or weight loss, if they choose. When the new features of Vivacare launch, so will a new web address for the service: www.informationrx.com.
Where the Information Comes From
The patient education content available through Vivacare is either authored by individuals inside the company, written with an editor and a physician, or through well known, medical organizations. For dermatology, resources come from associations like the American Academy of Dermatology, the National Rosacea Society, the National Psoriasis Foundation and more.
According to Dr. Becker, the handouts also provide patients with links to these organizations, where they can go for additional information.
“Vivacare partners with medical organizations to deliver disease state information through its service, reaching patients when they are in greatest need for resources,” says Dr. Becker.
The content may also be authored by the physicians themselves, he continues. Physicians can use Vivacare’s new publishing tools to customize the content with their personalized patient handouts or supplement a Vivacare handout with their own comments that Vivacare refers to as their “expert opinion.”
“We want to enable physicians to share their professional perspective in their own words with their patients and community,” says Dr. Becker.
For example, some dermatologists have shared their expert opinion regarding the use of bleach baths for eczema, or biologics as a treatment for psoriasis.
Looking Forward
Vivacare is available to all physicians in the United States. Dermatology physician assistants (PAs) can also sign up, and, according to Dr. Becker, an increasing number of dermatology PAs are taking advantage of the resource.
There is no advertising on the site. Vivacare works with pharmaceutical companies by distributing disease state or product information under the appropriate medical topic or center, Dr. Becker explains. In addition, if the physician does not prescribe a drug that is discussed in the acne resource center, for example, the physician can remove it.
Vivacare will continue to upgrade the content with new educational materials that becomes available and assist doctors or their office managers in integrating the Vivacare service into the practice workflow and the website.
“At the end of the day, we want doctors to know that they have an in-depth resource available for their patients and be able to tell them, ‘Go to my website to learn more about your diagnosis and treatment,’” Dr. Becker says.
