Crowdsourcing was one of the earliest innovations in healthcare that I covered on this blog, with people turning to the crowd to get second opinions on all manner of medical conditions.  After initial promise, the concept seemed to lose momentum and it never really crossed over into the mainstream.

New research from the University of Melbourne explores whether the method still has merit.  The study aimed to provide participants with the kind of peer-provided support we often get when picking a film or restaurant.  The project aimed to present users with a list of treatments that had been generated by the crowd, with their collected opinion on that treatment alongside each.

Greater involvement

The team believe their approach exceeds the likes of WebMD because users submit their treatments and experiences alongside decision support for those currently in the process of comparing possible treatments to their back problem.  They believe that this approach could help people to discover not only new treatment ideas, but also to contribute their own perspectives on back pain.

The researchers also provided all of the data associated with the project with clinical professionals as they believe this would provide them with valuable insight into the kind of conversations patients are having regarding back pain, and the treatments for it.  They believe this could help the professionals address any misunderstandings that exist among patients.

The system the team developed breaks each question down into a number of possible answers and criteria, which are then used to assess each answer.  Users can rate each answer on a 1-100 scale of usefulness.

The findings are interesting in that they can help to uncover some misunderstandings among patients regarding back pain and the treatments available to them, but it’s not clear why this specific platform is better able to provide that than other platforms that exist to provide patients with a means to talk with one another.

Given such potential for misinformation, there must also be an element of risk involved in soliciting advice from non-medical professionals on the best course of treatment.  Despite these apparent risks, the researchers believe that crowdsourcing can provide valuable input into a range of medical conditions, especially those where no single solution really exists.

There is a long tradition of people turning to ‘Dr Google’ for advice however, and it’s not immediately clear how this research proposes a more reliable way for people to do this.  So in terms of tapping into the ‘wisdom of the crowd’, I would say the jury remains out.