#IceBucketChallenge Meets the Digital Health Sphere

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There is simply no other way to say it— the #icebucketchallenge to combat ALS has gone viral. With over 2.4 million related videos shared and more than 28 million related posts, many are calling attention to the “pure brilliance” of this campaign on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The Ice Bucket Challenge campaign has generated astounding financial gains for the ALS Association as well. Since July 29, the Association has received more than $22.9 million from roughly 500,000 new donors.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is communally increasing support and awareness of ALS across all industry sectors, including digital health. One particular healthtech company with close ties to the ALS cause, PatientsLikeMe, accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge on August 5^th. Five years prior to the company’s founding in 2004, Ben and Jamie Heywood, Co-founders, received news that their brother had been diagnosed with ALS. The search to build a health data-sharing platform that would allow patients to manage their own conditions was born. Today, PatientsLikeMe is a patient network and real-time research platform that provides support for a variety of diseases including Diabetes, Crohn’s Disease and ALS.  Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, PatientsLikeMe is continuing its disease awareness efforts on a daily basis with online patient support communities, patient profile blog posts—and of course, new Ice Bucket Challenge requests.

Sources: Forbes Magazine, New York Times, and PatientsLikeMe

To learn more about PatientsLikeMe’s investment in the ALS cause and to watch the epic PatientsLikeMe Ice Bucket Challenge, check out this recent blog post!

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