The Influence of iGoogle

While I do not believe that most New Media technologies are applicable to certain types of organizations, such as health, I am a rather large proponent of perhaps the most prominent piece of Web 3.0 technologies: portals.  While portals too aren’t applicable in every context, health organizations should be taking advantage of them and using them immediately.  And some already do.

Currently, health-related Web sites, such as your local hospital, often have patient portals, employee portals, and even media portals for publications of news stories.  But is it necessary to have three static portals that focus on categories of audiences, or would it be better to allow the audience to choose his or her own modules?

Enter iGoogle.

iGoogle is a portal of sorts that allows visitors to install modules on the Google homepage for their most-used services.  For example, on my own iGoogle homepage I have Google Analytics installed so I can see my Web sites’ statistics, Gmail so I can see if I have any new messages, a few news resources to keep up on the daily happenings, and a forecast module so I can tell the weather outside (which is sad, if you think about it).  I could also install modules based on a number of other things, including blog readers/feeds, note-taking resources, and so forth.

This is the type of model I would absolutely suggest health, education, and news organizations implement.  Their visitors could choose modules based on their interests.  For education you might have modules based on the student’s individual classes, grades, communication with faculty, and campus organizations.  For health you would have modules for health test results, scheduling appointments, health records, and communication with the doctor and his office.  And for news you might have modules based on locations/communities and sections (such as entertainment, food, sports, or comics).

This type of set up would also provide for different audiences to easily access the information they need, too.  For example, while a health organization’s main audience is obviously the patient, modules could be developed for members of the media or employees.  An employee could have a module for his or her vacation time, while a media representative has a module for press releases and images.

A further benefit to this type of set up is the almost inherent ability to make it open source, allowing various members of the organization to develop modules based on his or her needs.  A doctor could develop a module for accessing orthopedic information, while a media person could develop a module for accessing contact information for approved employees.  With a little education and oversight, this could be a great benefit to organizations looking to establish a portal without having to constantly oversee its content.

With Google becoming more involved with patient records, such as with Cleveland Clinic, I see an iGoogle-inspired portal in the near future.  But other industries should also take note of the success of iGoogle and also implement their own versions of portals.