There are websites that allow visitors to compare pricing and other information between prescription drugs and sites empowering Web surfers with the ability to shop around for health insurance plans and get a free prescription drug discount card.
Don't forget about sites such as Discovery Health, which offers a wealth of information on a wide range of health-related topics, or Debate Healthcare Reform, a newer, interactive website where visitors can discuss healthcare reform in a message forum setting and access healthcare-related information and resources gathered from around the World Wide Web.
What about medical tourism, a growing trend in which those looking for medical procedures of all kinds, necessary or elective, are matched with physicians, surgeons, clinics, and hospitals in other countries to fulfill their needs at a much more affordable cost?
And don't overlook the many thousands of websites out there that represent small clinics and sole practitioners, many of them offering great information and resources in the form of a blog, e-newsletter, e-book, or in a collection of online articles. This demographic is rich in variety, ranging anywhere from family physicians and medical specialists to chiropractors and dentists, to certified personal trainers and natural health consultants.
The debate over the future of the American health system is getting heated and even confrontational at times in the halls of Congress and in cities and towns across the nation as the President, cabinet officials, and members of Congress hold listening sessions and town-hall-style meetings.
But while the politics of American healthcare reform and the red-blooded passions that accompany it are getting going full throttle, the Internet and content providers the world over have already been quietly working hard behind the scenes for a number of years, accomplishing what officials from both of the country's major political parties are attempting to achieve right now in their own respective, partisan ways -- improve accountability, transparency, and democracy in healthcare.
The result of this explosive growth in healthcare-related information, news, resources, and advice made available online has allowed everyday Americans to become better educated concerning their options and better prepared as science and technology continue to move forward. A vibrant marketplace that truly allows for the free exchange of ideas, information, and best practices concerning healthcare has already been created and is being added to and strengthened every day, free of partisan interference of any sort.
While politicians and political rhetoric come and go; while the debate stutters and hesitates at times and receives doses of high octane at others; the Internet has been going at a strong and consistent pace all along, and will continue doing so, in doing what it does best: helping those seeking help.
Aaron Scott Robertson - Journalist, author, public servant, and president of Intrepid Innovations Inc.
