Technology is providing ways to make knowledge more accessible, whether it’s your own health records, or new ways to monitor your vitals. In the end, this makes patient interaction with health care professionals more effective and more meaningful. There are plenty of companies eager to help you learn more about your own health. Here are 25 Health 2.0 companies ready to help you keep on top of your health:

Electronic Health Records

These companies offer you access to your own health records, as well as helping you share them with members of your health team.

1. Practice Fusion: This web based electronic health records management system is meant for doctors, but it can also be helpful to you. You can get better access to your health records. This means that you can check for errors, and see what sorts of things have been noted about your health. It also helps doctors provide better information. This startup offers a meaningful way to use electronic health records to help you make better, more informed health decisions.
2. Google Health: Google is definitely working to get into the game when it comes to electronic health records. You can control your health information, update it and more form a central control center offered by Google. You can import your medical records, and keep tabs on your various conditions as well. A very convenient personal health records service that can be accessed from anywhere with the Internet. Google really is striving to be the one stop place for everything you need in your life.
3. Allscripts: This company offers access to electronic health records and practice management. Even though this startup aims at helping doctors with electronic health records, it can still help you learn more about your health. Being able to share your records amongst members of your health care team, as well as being able to check for accuracy, is a great help. You can more easily learn about your health when the information is in one place.
4. eClinicalWorks: Another electronic health records startup company aimed at medical practice, this system can be a great help. When your health care professional has quicker access to your records, and more uniform access, you have better information as well. If you want to learn more about your health, it can help to have a health care team that is well informed. This company is helpful, too, in providing information on using electronic health records in a meaningful way.
5. ClearHealth Inc.: You can learn more about your health when your health care professional makes use of this practice management system. Learn more about health in America, and what can be done about. When your health care professional is more up to date, so are you, and this startup company is providing helpful answers to a number of medical issues. Includes some great features that make it easier to access your health.
6. Microsoft HealthVault: Technology startup Microsoft has its own helpful way for you to manage your own health. HealthVault allows you to add in electronic health records, as well as keep track of other aspects of health care, including cost. You can set up a profile for your entire family, helping you manage everyone’s health care from one location. It’s a simple way to make sure that everything is in order, and to keep up with what’s going on with your own health. A useful tool.
7. MyPHR: You can create your own health record, and keep up with how things are going with your health. Import medical records, and update your medical information. Not only is this great for keeping track of your own health, but it can also help you organize information so that it is easily accessible by members of your health care team. There is no need to rely on someone else for your health information; you can have it on your own. A good way to keep up with the basics of your own health.
8. WebMD Health Manager: Create your own personal health record, and keep track of health changes. This respected medical web startup offers you the ability to track your own health, and keep up with what is going on in your health. Plus, you get access to the great tools offered by WebMD when it comes to your health.

Prevention, Care and Monitoring

Learn more about health behaviors, and what you can do to improve your own health. Plus, track your own health, and get access to superior primary care.

9. Ringful Health: This startup focuses on helping you learn all about your own health, and monitoring your own systems. You can use the interesting apps this company creates to help you keep track of pollen for allergies, asthma, and your heart. Also includes a pain manager. On top of that, Ringful offers useful apps that help you find out about medical costs and compare hospitals. A startup company providing a comprehensive range of helpful apps that can help you take charge of your health.
10. MDVIP: Join this network and get access to some of the best and brightest doctors and health care professionals. The idea is to help you get the best primary care and preventative medicine out there. This startup company goes “beyond concierge medical care” to help patients get exactly what they are looking for, and learn more about their own health. A way to track your health care outcomes and compare what has been happening in your health.
11. Access Health: If you are looking for primary, same day care in the San Francisco Bay Area, this startup company can help. You can enter what you need, and get access to transparent health care. You can get help quickly and get preventative medicine help with this startup. Prices are relatively transparent, and it is possible to get appointments seven days a week. This is one of the startups offering more personal and convenient health care.
12. Qliance: Preventative care is one of the main focuses of this health startup. It is patient centered, and offers same day appointments in the Seattle area. You can learn more about your health from helpful doctors, and cut out the insurance company. Pricing is transparent and affordable, and it is health care that is on demand. You pay a monthly membership, and then get access to what you need. It’s an innovative and consumer focused way of doing health care.
13. 1Life Healthcare: Another startup offering boutique medical care. If you live in New York City or San Francisco Bay Area, you can get access to high quality health care when you need it. There are a number of online health tools that can help you check symptoms and monitor your health and keep up with what is happening with your health. I great company that can help you keep on top of your health, and learn more about it.
14. DoubleCheckMD: This useful and helpful startup helps you check symptoms and interactions related to drugs. It mostly focuses on those who need to take multiple drugs. It’s a great tool to help you monitor your health, and to monitor your drug interactions. Pay attention to your symptoms, and this tool can help you figure out what could be causing complications. Or, better yet, provide warning before you take something that could interact badly.
15. MyMedLab: You can order your tests online, and then go to an approved lab to have your blood drawn. The results of the tests are then sent to you electronically. The lab tests are affordable, and they provide you with the ability to keep tabs on your own health easily.

Health Care Costs

In the name of transparency, some startups are offering you access to cost information for common procedures, as well as analysis on whether or not certain procedures are cost efficient.

16. Castlight Health: This startup company is devoted to providing you with the actual costs for medical care. The idea is to help you learn more about what different health care decisions will cost you, in order to help you learn more about the cost of your own health. It’s a very useful tool that can help you learn more about health costs and make better choices for yourself, and it can help you determine whether or not you are being offered a fair price.
17. Quicken Health: Learn more about medical expenses, and track your own expenses. It’s a helpful way to learn more about your health insurance plan, and keep track of expenses associated with your health care. Also lets you know your responsibility for expenses. It’s a great way to keep track of what you are doing, and how much it is costing you. Learn more about your own health — and what you pay to remain healthy.
18. Healthcare Blue Book: Learn more about fair prices for different health care and medical services. A great guide if you are interested in learning how much your health should cost. Includes hospital, doctor, lab and cosmetic medicine information. This is especially helpful when you are looking for something that your health insurance doesn’t cover. It can provide you with solid information about what things should cost, so that you can pay out of pocket.
19. New Choice Health: This startup also helps you figure out health care costs. Not only can you use it to compare costs and find fair rates for different procedures, but you can also get different quotes from difference providers. This is helpful when it comes to your own health outcomes. Learn how to save money on your health care, and make better decisions. You should know how much health care is going to cost you, and this startup makes the process a little more transparent.
20. Carol: Learn more about different services, and their costs. The idea behind this site is to package different health care services together, and work in volume. Puts packages together so that you can look at more affordable outcomes. An interesting company in the world of health care.

Health Care Grades

Not only can you learn more about your own health, but you can take charge of it. Find out how health care professionals rate, and share your own experiences in health care.

21. Vitals: Learn more about doctors, and how they perform. This site allows you to check up on your doctor. See information about how other patients rate your doctor, and also see what sort of rating his or her medical school had, and see the rating for the hospital your doctor uses. You can also find doctors in your area, helping you choose the doctor that best fits your idea of good care. It’s a great way to take charge of your health care, since you will learn about what you are getting.
22. RateMDs: Another rating service that helps you determine whether or not your doctor is up to snuff. You can share your own ratings for your doctor, or read what fellow patients are saying about your doctor. It’s a great way to learn — from other consumers — about the quality of health care you are receiving. If you aren’t satisfied, you can always use the site to look for someone who suits you better. A great resource for remaining solidly in charge.
23. HealthGrades: If you are interested in learning about what’s available to you in terms of health care, you can use this site. It includes a look at top hospitals, and offers ratings for more than 750,000 physicians. You can also get good information on nursing homes, and get reports almost instantly. A way to access specialists and hospitals as well as doctors. Learn more about your health, and take better charge of your health care.
24. Find a Doc: Compare different doctors, and leave reviews of your own doctors. A great way to be more informed of your health care options. So often we don’t realize what our choices are. Find a Doc is a startup that can help you get the quality health care you want. Includes and advanced search that includes specialties, so you can search according to your individual needs, rather than just relying on a random choice out of the phone book.
25. DrScore.com: If you are interested in promoting pay for performance in the health industry, DrScore.com can be a good place to participate. Learn more about what others are saying about your doctor, and share your own thoughts. A great way to make sure you are getting the best possible health care.

1. An Atlas of the Human Body: This is a great slideshow from The New York Times. It includes interesting pictures and slides from Dr. David L. Bassett and View-Master inventor William B. Gruber. Includes amazing images of dissected body parts, and even entire bodies, which had been left to science. Advanced preservation techniques are evident in some cases. You can see different aspects of the body, and get a feel of how it is constructed. Look at the placement of muscles, blood vessels and more. Includes up-close images of different bones and organs as well. A fascinating journey — especially since these images were taken in the 1960s.
2. Useless Body Parts: Not everything in your body has a useful function. Indeed, some muscles and bones are virtually useless. But we have them anyway. In some cases, there were uses for these parts before our current stage of evolution. However, the presence of some body parts continues to baffle scientists. This slideshow from CBS 13 details some of the useless body parts we have, as well as explain possible reasons that we have them, and — in some cases — which of our primate relatives still in the wild have these parts. An interesting look at how our body may not always be so perfectly constructed. Besides, it gives you a good idea of what you could do without if you had to.
3. Inside the Human Body: If you are interested in what your organs should look like healthy, and what they look like damaged, this is a great slide show. Dr. Mehmet Oz offers insight into what you look like on the inside. See what bad health habits can do to your body, especially fat. You can see for yourself what happens when you do not take proper care of your body, and you become sick, or if your body is clogged up by fat. Another interesting slide is the one that shows a healthy lung as opposed to a cancerous lung. A fascinating journey into the reality of what you could be doing to harm your own body. And possibly a reason to start living healthier right now.
4. Digestive Disease Myths Pictures Slideshow: Common Misconceptions: This is an amazing and engaging slideshow from MedicineNet. This shows your digestive system, and tackles myths that surround our understanding of what we put into our bodies. For instance, spicy foods don’t cause ulcers. Another myth is that you are supposed to have a bowel movement everyday in order to be considered “regular”. It’s an interesting look at some of the misconceptions that have grown up around the digestive system, and offers solid, medical information that you can use to make better decisions about what goes into your body, and not be put off by spurious information.
5. Assembling Bodies: BBC News offers an interesting tour of how we view the human body. This slide show is narrated by Anita Herle, a Senior Curator for Anthropology at the Museum of Archeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University in England. This slide show examines how people have viewed the body through time, and includes anatomical illustrations, painting, sculptures and other images showing how our understanding and concept of the body has evolved over time, from the most primitive cultures through modernity. You can follow our understanding of and interest in  the human body as it has developed, medically and culturally, over a period of centuries.
6. The Way We Work: This book by David Macauley is an beautifully illustrated journey into human anatomy. Meant for children, this book offers easy to understand information about the basics of how our bodies work. The accompanying slide show offers scenes from the book, including information. Enjoy the lovely illustrations, and learn more about your body. A fun way to see how everything works together so that you are functioning properly as a human being. It’s a way to look at the body as a beautiful machine, and see how all the systems work together. Get a look at each system in the body, and learn what it is meant to do as part of the whole.
7. Electrolyte Balance in the Human Body: One of the realities of life is that we require electrolytes in order to have proper balance in the body. Electrolytes help the electric tissues of the body, which include neurons and muscle tissue. As a result, it is important to have a good electrolyte balance. This slide show offers a look at electrolytes and their importance in the human body, as well as how the proper balance can be maintained. Also includes information on how electrolytes can become imbalanced in the body. A factual and organized presentation designed to help health care providers provide good information for their patients.
8. Bodies New York Slideshow: If you are interested in how our bodies really look, this slideshow offers interesting images and information. This slideshow offers images from the BODIES…New York exhibition. This exhibit shows carefully dissected, preserved and displayed bodies so that you can see how the body works. An interesting look at anatomy, detailing muscle and bone placement. Pictures of the body in different positions shows how muscles are positioned during different activities. It’s very interesting to have first hand knowledge of how it works. This slideshow is a great preview of a great exhibit — and a good resource itself.
9. How your brain works: If you are interested in learning about how your brain functions, this slideshow from the Mayo Clinic is a great resource. Learn, in depth, about the different functions of the brain. Learn about the construction of its brain, and its structures. You can gain an understanding of what each part of the brain does, and how it functions. Also see how the brain controls different parts of the body, and its place in the nervous system. Learn how neurons and synapses work, and gain an understanding of how your brain helps you think and feel. A helpful journey through the mechanical workings of the brain, and its importance in your body.
10. Mechanobiology of the Skeleton: If you are interested in how the skeleton works, this slideshow is a great resource. It goes through how bones are formed, and the structures inside of them. The bones in the body have an interesting structure inside of them. You can learn about the way bones grow and form, and find out why bones are so strong — even though they are relatively light. These slides were presented at the Keystone Symposium by Charles H. Turner, and presented on the Science magazine web site. It’s an interesting look at how bones are formed, the biology of what goes on inside of bones, and what happens when disease strikes.
11. Heart Disease Pictures Slideshow: MedicineNet offers another great slideshow. This one tackles heart disease. How does heart disease form? What does it look like when a heart is affected by heart disease? This slideshow is an informative look at the real story of heart disease. Illustrates plaque buildup, and shows images of what can lead to a heart attack. Also, this slide show features great images and diagrams, along with pictures of actual arteries and other parts of the heart when they have been clogged. It might even help you decided to eat better and exercise more, since you can see exactly what you are doing to your heart.
12. Lungs: If you are interested in the structure of the lungs, this is a great slide show. Includes a helpful look at how the lungs are set up, including an inset showing the important alveoli. See the different parts of the lungs, and where they are located. You can also see x-ray images of different problems in the lungs. See what the x-ray of an aortic rupture looks like, or examine pneumothorax. Slides include an explanation of the conditions shown, and explain the basic workings and structure of the lungs. An interesting look, from Healthline, at the lungs, and a couple of the problems you might encounter. If you are a health care professional, this is especially useful in helping you see how these conditions appear on an x-ray.
13. Dried Human Blood: Interested in what blood looks like under the microscope? This fascinating and beautiful slideshow is short, but interesting. Look at dried human blood as it appears in a microscope. You might be surprised at how it looks, and the different structures that are present in blood.