Data-driven patient communities

Grader A: partial

PatientsLikeMe, the reference case, had several hundred thousand members and fed research before UnitedHealth bought it in 2019; real use exists, but no measure shows 5% of patients in health care pooling data through such communities. Partial; a broad reading counting any online patient group could argue a hit.

Test: D37 health: share of relevant patients, providers or procedures using it by 2022 (hit >=5%; partial <5% real use by 2022 or 5% in 2023-2025; miss no real use by 2025); relevant: patients with chronic disease

• PatientsLikeMe, forced by U.S. to ditch Chinese investor, sold to UnitedHealth Group (2019-06-24): Data-pooling patient community operating at scale, acquired by UnitedHealth
• PatientsLikeMe (2025): Membership and research use of pooled patient-reported data

Grader B: partial

PatientsLikeMe, the archetype, has run since 2005 with ~830,000 members, about 2% of US MS patients; it was bought by UnitedHealth in 2019 and runs on as an Optum-backed company. Real, routine use but below 5% of patients in its conditions. General online health forums (higher reach) do not pool structured health data, so are not the label's sense.

Test: D37 health: >=5% of patients with a given condition take part in data-pooling communities by 2022 = hit; real use below 5% = partial; none by 2025 = miss.

• PatientsLikeMe (Wikipedia) (2026): Over 830,000 members across 2,900 conditions; roughly 2% of US MS patients; acquired by UnitedHealth 2019.