Patients Like Me
“Patients Like Me is the first and only online data-sharing platform for people with life-changing conditions. Their ground breaking Openness Philosophy that promotes the open sharing of symptom, treatment and outcome data benefits both patients and the Healthcare Industry in new and dramatic ways. They believe it’s the key to improving medical care, accelerating research and bringing new and effective treatments to market in record time.
With more than 60,000 patient members across twelve disease communities, Patients Like Me allows patients to see what interventions are working for thousands of others. This unrivaled volume of data improves the lives of patients by informing treatment decisions, enhancing patient-doctor communication and creating new knowledge based on real-world experiences. Their forum is also where patients can get answers, advice and support from patients like them.
Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Patients Like Me was founded in 2004 by brothers James Heywood and Benjamin Heywood and their long-time friend and fellow MIT graduate, Jeff Cole. They were inspired to create Patients Like Me after James and Benjamin’s brother Stephen was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 29.
The Heywood family’s fight to save Stephen has been chronicled in the book ‘His Brother’s Keeper’ as well as the documentary “So Much So Fast.” The Patients Like Me team brings together a wealth of expertise in business, healthcare, research and technology. Despite their different strengths, they all share a passion for improving the lives of patients.
* Launched in 2006, their flagship ALS community is now the largest in existence, capturing 10% of newly diagnosed patients in the U.S.
* Their Multiple Sclerosis Community has the highest membership at 18,000+ patients and also gets 10% of the newly diagnosed patients in the U.S. to join.
* Industry partners to date include many of the Top 20 pharmaceutical companies.
* The company has been recognised by leading industry and global media, including features in The New York Times and New York Times Magazine, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, and CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
* In May 2009, Patients Like Me testified before the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics on the future of e-healthcare and the importance of putting the patient back at the centre of the healthcare system.”
Current Patient Communities include:
Prevalent Diseases
* ALS, MND * Anxiety * Bipolar * Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME * Depression * Epilepsy * Fibromyalgia * HIV/AIDS * MS (Multiple Sclerosis) * OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) * PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) * Parkinson’s Disease * Transplants
Rare Diseases
* CBD (Corticobasal Degeneration) * Devic’s Neuromyelitis Optica * MSA (Multiple System Atrophy) * PLS (Primary Lateral Sclerosis) * PMA (Progressive Muscular Atrophy) * PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy)
RELATED
1. Jamie Heywood 2. Youtube Channel: Patients Like Me 3. Twitter
