Joey Tuan and His Startup, HealClick, Aim to Create a "Yelp" for Chronically-ill Patients

Jan. 14, 2014 - PRLog -- Joey Tuan announced today the launch of HealClick, an exciting website that instantly matches patients based on diseases, symptoms and treatments, and  compiles data to improve medical research. In 2006, during a 17-mile hike at half dome, Tuan, HealClick Co-founder, became severely ill with myalgic encephalomyelitis, a poorly understood disease lacking FDA-approved treatment. He had to leave his job as a consultant in San Francisco. He turned to patient forums, spent 5 years, and over $200k trying countless treatments before the sheer luck of talking to another patient like himself led to one that worked.  He became convinced sharing treatment experiences would be far more helpful to the millions with chronic diseases if patients were able to instantly meet others with similar conditions, while their online data goes into a database for medical research.

In 2013, he moved to Las Vegas due to health improvements from drier conditions, and his team created HealClick, which as of today has matched nearly 1,000 patients together by not just diagnosis but their entire medical conditions. This makes sharing treatment experiences easier, faster, and more relevant. More importantly, all the health data they receive from patients are de-identified and used for medical research. This morning’s public launch of HealClick kicked off their $50k Indiegogo Campaign.

When asked how HealClick stands apart in its ability to reach and connect patients, Tuan shared, “Currently, there are over 50 -million patients who are neglected and have poorly understood autoimmune diseases that overlap. Current patient forums don’t offer a one-stop shop. With HealClick, content is personalized to each patient’s entire set of diagnoses, symptoms, treatments, and coming soon, lab results.”

This groundbreaking website also offers something distinctive and never done before – compiling an enormous amount of medical data to help further research. “The fact is, researchers need more tracking data to make further milestones with specific diseases. With HealClick, all medical data is de-identified and used in research. Although we're based in Las Vegas, crowdsourced research isn't bound by geography. We're in early talks with several Silicon Valley researchers and organizations to collaborate on studies. This can lead to more clinical trials and potentially, FDA-approved treatments – the possibilities are endless,” Tuan added.

In addition to the above-mentioned features, HealClick’s patient-matching algorithm’s also become more accurate as more users join and input information. The site can then begin to suggest new treatments, conditions and even lab tests that patients may want to discuss with their doctors.

For more information on HealClick, visit www.HealClick.com. You can also view their current Indiegogo Campaign here.

About The HealClick Team
Joey Tuan is a co-founder of HealClick. He leads product development from concept to market, growth and engagement strategy, and strategic partnerships. He is passionate about community-building by empowering epatient leaders. He previously co-founded Reservation Light and healKick. He graduated from UC Berkeley’s School of Business and dropped out of Berkeley’s Health Policy and Management program due to illness.

Cari Allshouse is a co-founder of HealClick. She is the social media and community manager. She became disabled in her teens and has dedicated her entire adult life to creating change through patient advocacy and support. She co-founded healKick, a social platform for young adult patients that won the Health Impact Award. She specializes in patient recruitment and retention through social media, blogging, and on-site engagement. She runs several e-patient communities and has over 6,000 social media followers.

Beth Mazur is the lead architect overseeing all technical planning for HealClick. Previously she was a developer and technical product manager for startup companies including Merced Systems and Jaspersoft. She also built open-source software for microfinance institutions with Grameen Foundation. Beth earned her Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT.