Health care verticals have begun to build a foundation on the Internet. TauMed’s founder Tauseef Bashir wants people to enjoy a healthy online community along with the most relevant health information they can find.
Visitors to TauMed will find the expected search engine, just as they might at Google, Kosmix, or Healthline. That’s just the top of the page. Look below that, and you’ll see a portal of news, research, and real-life tales shared by people facing an assortment of medical challenges.
The message is that someone doesn’t have to be alone in looking for health information, but they can be as private as they like.
Bashir has about ten years of experience in search, and he and his fellow TauMed creators have been working on improving the health search experience. Doing so means going vertical, he said. “It’s to avoid duplication while enhancing credible sources.”
Search occupies one segment of what TauMed offers. TauMed has HONcode accreditation; that comes from the Swiss-based Health On the Net Foundation. Search results come from resources like A.D.A.M.’s Health Illustrated Encyclopedia, and from a variety of trusted online resources.
Bashir noted their practice of licensing such premium content. On the technology side, they do mining on that data so it can be presented to a visitor based on other text in a page. As one changes topics by clicking on a related search term in the sidebar, TauMed updates the search results, terms, and related health news on display.
“One shouldn’t have to leave content just to find related info,” said Bashir.
Since its mid-December launch, Bashir has been bringing community resources into play. Searchers familiar with services like Yahoo Answers and Answerbag will see a similar health-focused offering on TauMed.
Visitors can post questions, other users can post answers, and the community can vote on those replies. People who want to go farther in discussing health issues can signup for a Health Share. These Shares can be opened to the TauMed community, or kept private as desired.
People can personalize TauMed through the use of a feature called My Health Space. We walked through its functions during our conversation.
Profiles in My Health Space can be public or private. When signed in, the profile keeps the person’s search history and categories visited on TauMed. I asked Bashir if this could be cleared out as desired, and he demonstrated how to do so with a single click.
TauMed offers an alternative to the health verticals one might use today. It’s more focused than a general search engine would be on health issues, and its community and personalization provide a deeper visitor experience for those who want it.
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