HealthScout (http://www.healthscout.com)
120 Post Road West
Westport, Conn. 06880
The sky is the limit for HealthScout in terms of the health information the editors want to hear about. This site gets highly personal with the news it delivers. Its signature feature, the "7-minute Checkup," captures a user's medical history via a confidential questionnaire, and uses this information to email members a list of 10 customized articles on a weekly basis. The editorial staff of 20 accepts pitches around the clock.
Primarily local in focus, the site editors are looking to hospitals to be the eyes and ears for their community, providing a constant stream of news about exciting research, trends and medical treatments, says Terry Dunkle, HealthScout's editor-in-chief. Currently the site covers 712 health topics, by next year the coverage should jump to more than 2,000 topics.
Recent HealthScout headlines include:
- "You Aren't Your Underwear" New sperm study brings relief for the brief.
- "Nuclear Attack on Brain Cancer" Neutron beams off better treatment.
- "A Pregnant Pause" Is memory lost during pregnancy?
SECTIONS: Health News
HealthScout, which covers 712 topics, is looking for a full range of health information - from rare to general. Pitches must meet a few guiding principles: They must be highly credible (at least two sources and studies that have been published in medical journals are a big plus); and extremely readable and relavant for a national audience.
The site publishes 15 original news stories daily, from unique facts and trivia to local news about innovative medical procedures.
EDITORS/LEAD TIME: Main Phone Number: 203/341-7000
Managing Editor: Shirley Mathews email: [email protected]
Senior Editor: John Dillon email: [email protected]
Other Key Editorial Staff: Terry Dunkle Editor-in-Chief
Barry Hoffman, Executive Editor
METHODS: This cyber newsroom prefers email pitches over anything else. You can email them any time of the day throughout the week.
COMMENTS: Positioned as the "next best thing to having a doctor in the family," HealthScout personalizes its health news by sending members weekly emails of health information that meet their medical profile.
The site provides direct links to the Web sites of healthcare organizations featured in its news coverage and will soon include visuals to accompany text coverage.
Alternative and sports medicine top the list of HealthScout's immediate health information needs. The editors stress including contact numbers of physicians and other healthcare professionals who have conducted research.