Online Community Created By Physicians, For Physicians Passes 10,000 Registered Users

Sermo (http://www.sermo.com), the fastest growing online community created by physicians, for physicians, today announced that it has exceeded the 10,000 registered physicians mark -- just six months after launching. Growing at a rate of more than 600 physicians per week, Sermo has become the "go to" destination for physicians nationwide to share observations from their practices and exchange medical insights as they are happening. U.S. doctors logged more than 6,000 hours and viewed nearly 1 million pages on Sermo in March alone, as they shared the latest observations from the front lines of medicine about the effectiveness of drugs, devices and treatments.

Speed of Information Flow Accelerates Learning and Improves Patient Care
As more and more physicians learn from each other on Sermo, they are building consensus around the latest medical advances in a way never before possible. On Sermo, individual physicians post what they believe to be noteworthy observations. Sermo colleagues then rank the importance or relevance of each observation, generating consensus and surfacing medical advances more rapidly than ever before. The result for physicians is better patient care and improved outcomes through earlier interventions.

Sense of Community Fills Void
To combat rising healthcare and hospital costs, patients are often being treated on an outpatient basis. As a result, physicians are spending less time with patients in hospitals and have lost everyday opportunities to share ideas and learn from each other's experiences. With the ability to easily ask questions of thousands colleagues nationwide, Sermo fills an important information void in patient care -- even a personal gap for many physicians. Excerpts from physicians' comments relay their sentiments, "Sermo is an opportunity to recapture some of what we lost as the environment in which we practice has deteriorated. Sermo keeps us on the cutting edge of medicine and allows us to be part of a community and participate whenever we have the time. More than once I have posted a comment at 4 AM."

"When I have a patient come in with an issue that I am not familiar with or who would benefit from, real-time feedback and discussion, I immediately turn to Sermo to either answer my questions, or validate my initial thoughts," said James L. Shoemaker Jr., MD. "Time and again, Sermo has given me the feedback I need to be able to provide my patient with the right treatment, right away. Sermo truly is the 'virtual water cooler' of the medical profession and serves a unique role in physician-to-physician communication -- no other source comes close."

Below is a sampling of some of the most recent postings generating debate among physicians on Sermo. Each posting is accompanied by a quantitative survey of physicians and extensive conversation.

* Can Gabapentin be used for hot flashes?
* Given the injuries associated with chiropractic care, do you refer your patients to chiropractors?
* Have you seen hearing loss caused by Azithromycin?
* Which is the best quinolone for respiratory infections?
* Do you examine older kids and adolescents without a parent present?
* Do you agree with Novartis discontinuing Zelnorm?
* Have you experienced compassion fatigue?
* With new drugs coming to market all the time how long do you like to wait before prescribing them?
* Is it ethical to Google your patients?
* Is Cymbalta good for Fibromyalgia?
* Which Brand Name Drugs are better than Generics?
* FDA sleeping pill warnings -- Have they gone too far?

Real-Time Authentication Technology Ensures Exclusive, Peer-to-Peer Exchange
Unlike any other online community, Sermo has introduced a ground-breaking registration process that credentials and authenticates physicians in real-time. The only entity to ever do so, Sermo's instant, two-step process is a unique and essential ingredient to its rapid growth. This new process allows physicians to register for Sermo in seconds without human intervention and provides an easy mechanism for Sermo to fully validate that all members of its online community are licensed U.S. physicians. Once approved, physicians can immediately start sharing insights and observations with the entire community.

"Sermo has opened a new channel for information exchange that exemplifies how technology is changing the face of medicine," said Dr. Daniel Palestrant, CEO, Sermo. "Physicians from all areas of the county, with varying practices and experiences are developing collaborative relationships on Sermo and working together to improve patient care. The Sermo network ensures that when a patient walks into a doctor's office, his doctor can tap thousands of colleagues nationwide to determine the very best course of treatment -- all in real-time. That is the power of Sermo."

Sermo Gives Physicians New Collective Voice
Thousands of physicians weighing in on the benefits of a new drug, discussing how a new ruling from FDA will or will not impact their practice, or talking about a successful new treatment has power. Sermo has tapped into physicians' collective thinking and it is having an impact on financial markets, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and potentially regulators.

Based on a system of information arbitrage, Sermo's unique business model allows government health organizations, financial services firms and industry analysts to access real-time information directly from the Sermo community -- all through a customized web interface designed to meet their specific needs and interests. This industry-first technology is giving physicians a collective voice while creating a new information exchange for improving patient care that has never before been possible.

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Photo by Logan Ingalls. Creative Commons License Attribution 2.0