Healthline
 | This article contains promotional content. (March 2021) |
 | |
Type of site | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999[1] (as YourDoctor.com) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California & New York, New York, United States |
| Owner | Healthline Media (Red Ventures) |
| Products | Health information services |
| Employees | 279 (2018) |
| URL | www |
Healthline Media, Inc. is an American website and provider of health information headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in its current form 2006 and established as a standalone entity in January 2016.
Overview
Healthline Media was founded in 1999 as YourDoctor.com, by endocrine specialist James Norman.[2] In 2006, the company was re-launched as Healthline Networks.[3]
In 2011, Healthline was losing money, and rather than produce its own content, was licensing its content from others, resulting in quality problems. In response, the company invested $1 million into the development of its own content.[4]
By 2013, it had over $21 million in revenue and 105 employees, with offices in New York City and San Francisco.[3] Deloitte ranked Healthline Media as one of the top 500 fastest growing technology companies in North America from 2010 to 2013.[5]
In January 2016, Healthline raised $95 million in growth equity financing through Summit Partners.[6][4] Under the terms of the agreement, Healthline's media business was established as a standalone entity with David Kopp as CEO. The firm acquired the health news website Medical News Today and reference website MediLexicon in May 2016.[7]
In July 2019, Healthline was acquired by Red Ventures. In August 2020, Healthline acquired Psych Central.[8]
Healthline.com
Healthline Media's website publishes health and wellness information.[9]
In 2010, Healthline Media signed an agreement to provide medical and health-related content to Yahoo! Health, along with other websites.[10] Other partners have included AARP.com, The Dr. Oz Show web site,[2] and Aetna.[11]
Controversy
Questions have been raised about the quality and neutrality of the articles in Healthline. One critic noted that a Healthline article about a new drug used promotional language, copied from the drug-maker's press release, neglected to cite adverse side effects, and framed the drug's claimed benefits in misleading language not correctly representing the evidence reported in a classical peer-reviewed medical journal.[12][13]
Other critics have noted:
- headlines that exaggerate the substance of the article;[14]
- inadequate journalistic and scientific skepticism when reporting "news";[15]
- failure to balance quotes from vested interests with quotes from interviews of independent sources;[15]
- reported medical "news" that had not yet been validated by publication in a peer-reviewed journal;[16]
- implied clinical applicability for developments not yet so scientifically validated;[16]
- failure to balance reports of claimed theoretical benefits of a new treatment, with a corresponding report of the associated cost or required frequency of treatment;[15]
- failure to cite sources;[16]
- failure to link to source of studies cited in the article;[16]
In a 2019 interview with AdExchanger.com, Healthline Media CEO David Kopp claimed that his site had received, out of 40,000 comments, "a few hundred" critiques from consumers – triggering changes to "several hundred articles" on Healthline.[4] He further noted that Healthline provided advertisers with ads matched to "content... relevant to the product."[4]
References
- ^ "YourDoctor.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools". WHOIS. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
- ^ a b Roush, Wade. "Healthline Battles WebMD With Personalized Medical Search Tools, Body Maps". Xconomy. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ a b "Healthline Networks, Inc". InsideView. Archived from the original on December 18, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Sluis, Sarah: "How A Focus On Quality And Discipline Revived Healthline Media," April 17, 2019, AdExchanger.com, retrieved November 15, 2020
- ^ "Technology Fast 500". Deloitte. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013.
- ^ Healthline Media Raises Growth Financing from Summit Partners http://www.summitpartners.com/news/healthline-media-raises-growth-financing-from-summit-partners
- ^ Healthline Media Grows Digital Reach with Acquisition of #1 Website for Medical News Information http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/04/prweb13368746.htm
- ^ "Healthline Media Acquires PsychCentral, Bolstering Healthline's Role as the Top Digital Health Publisher". Businesswire. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ Tedeschi, Bob (January 23, 2006). "This Site Knows a Cold Isn't a Rock Band". The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2006.
- ^ Helft, Miguel (April 1, 2010). "Yahoo Teams Up with Healthline". Bits (blog). The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ Kolbasuk McGee, Marianne. "Aetna Taps Healthline for Patient Portal". Information Week. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
- ^ Victory, Joy (March 28, 2018). "When 'fact-checked' health news doesn't tell the whole story". HealthNewsReview.org. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020.
- ^ Schwitzer, Gary (September 19, 2019). "Why fact-checking alone often fails us on health care topics". Center for Health Journalism. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021.
- ^ Lomangino, Kevin; Stone, Kathlyn (October 9, 2015). "'Real-life gaydar'? A news release sparks headlines that get ahead of the evidence". HealthNewsReview.org. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020.
- ^ a b c Schwitzer, Gary (June 5, 2014). "Words of caution about 'simple tests could save lives and money' story". HealthNewsReview.org. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Manouchehri, Kimya; Schmid, Julia (February 26, 2020). "Healthline uses multiple perspectives to illuminate findings related to neurological influences on depressive disorders". SciFeye. Archived from the original on February 12, 2021.