During the first quarter, the online health information category grew 12% over the same period last year. This represents 55.3 million monthly U.S. visitors, or 31 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience, according to data from comScore.

While the traditional players - WebMD, MSN and Yahoo! continued to lead the category, smaller players are gaining traction. Healthline.com traffic rose 269 percent, while QualityHealth.com jumped 114 percent. Recent entrant RevolutionHealth.com has doubled its traffic since the beginning of the year to 486k visitors in March.

comScore data also reveals a high degree of user loyalty for the health portals, as evidenced by the low degree of cross-visitation that occurs within the category.

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A new report from JupiterResearch finds that consumer demand for online health-related media and services will increase as changes in the healthcare model increasingly shift more decisions and costs to the consumer.

The Full Report, US Health Consumer Survey, 2006: Online Health Media Consumption and the Impact of Increasing Health Consumerism, can be purchased here.

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Studies show that people are increasingly turning to the internet for help in achieving their health and fitness related New Year's resolutions. Statistics show significant increase to Health and Information sites in the first week of 2006.

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Recent studies show that U.S. patients are more inclined to turn to the web when looking for health information, even though doctors they trusted to provide them with accurate medical suggestions.

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The internet shows positive growth as one of the most widely used sources for healthcare related information.

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The internet is a rapdily growing resource center for savvy seniors looking for answers to their medicare questions.

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New research shows e-business can save lives. Hospitals that invest in e-business are at less risk.

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According to a new study, seniors ages 65+ are slow to adopt using the Internet, which is preventing them from accessing important information regarding illnesses, treatment options, and prescription drugs.

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The internet is changing the ways that patients find health information and is expanding the ways in which pharmaceutical companies can effectively market drugs to consumers.

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A study done by the Journal of Medical Internet Research shows that while online tools are working miracles for educating patients, there are some strong differences between people that currently use these tools and those that will need to be converted.
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Technology provides hospitalized patients the means to stay in touch with friends and family, and hospitals reap in the benefits of increased site traffic.

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The Internet proves to be a critical resource for physicians, and is even showing to influence behavior and decision making.
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The U.S. Hispanic population is a prime new target for online phamaceutical marketing, representing a substantial growth opportunity for health companies.

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Although doctors are increasingly using the web for their drug information, it is becoming more and more difficult to gain and hold their attention. The feeling among physicians is that the current incentives provided to utilize the internet promotions are not large enough.

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