Attendees of Health 2.0 Conference are among the first to receive new information about consumer attitudes towards personalized medicine.

Among the findings:

Patients are plugged into their own healthcare management:

• Most (71%) iGuard patients consider themselves "very knowledgeable" about their healthcare.
• They feel in control of their healthcare - 63% of patients say this describe them "very well."

Patients feel connected to their physicians. For the most part, they feel:

• Listened to/heard by their physicians.
• Uninhibited in asking their doctor questions.
• A high level of trust in their physicians (84% say this describes them "very well").

The need for personal drug safety monitoring is increasing:

• Nearly three-quarters (73%) of patients visited at least three different physicians in the last year; almost one-half (42%) visited four or more different doctors in the last year.
• Nearly one-quarter (24%) of patients take 7-8 different medications per day, including prescription, over-the-counter and vitamin/supplement products.

Patients are supported by the safety and confidence they gain from iGuard.org and similar sites:

• Over one-half (53%) of patients seek online information about their medications at least monthly; nearly one-third (32%) at least weekly.
• When patients seek online information about their medications, they generally turn to either iGuard.org (37%) or WebMD.com (39%).
• iGuard.org is the sole electronic manager of health information for most (73%) patients.

Hugo Stephenson, M.D., president and founder of iGuard.org, presented the new data that was compiled from a recent survey of the 1.8 million iGuard.org members regarding consumer attitudes towards personalized medicine.

Presented at the Data Drives Decisions panel today, Stephenson joined other thought leaders who showed how data from various Health 2.0 platforms are being integrated with emerging clinical data sets.

Journalists seeking data on consumer attitudes towards specific medications, recalls, alerts and more can discuss opportunities with Dr. Stephenson. For example, a journalist working on a story about the recent recall or alert of a specific prescription or over-the counter medication or dietary supplement can ask specific questions of iGuard.org members who take that product.

Topics on which Dr. Stephenson is an expert and can provide expert opinion include:

• How the FDA/industry is working to improve communication about drug safety;
• How consumers can protect themselves;
• The role of technology in healthcare;
• What every consumer should know about medications/supplements.

iGuard.org is affiliated with Microsoft HealthVault, The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), MyMedicalReports.com, Kerr Drug, Aging with Grace and Allscripts, among others.

Dr. Stephenson has served as an advisor to the Federal Trade Commission on privacy policies.

iGuard.org is a free, personal drug safety monitoring service that now provides nearly two million consumers and caregivers with timely, personalized information about drug-drug interactions, drug-disease interactions, medication safety warnings, breaking safety news and medication recalls that may affect their health. Launched in October 2007, iGuard.org is one of the fastest growing Health 2.0 services today, currently registering over 100,000 new members each month.