Healthline#Reception

Healthline Media runs healthline.com, which publishes health and wellness information.{{cite news|last=Tedeschi|first=Bob|title=This Site Knows a Cold Isn't a Rock Band|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/23/technology/23ecom.html |work=The New York Times|access-date=January 23, 2006|date=January 23, 2006}} It also has provided health content to third party websites. In 2010, Healthline Media signed an agreement to provide medical and health-related content to Yahoo! Health.{{cite news |last=Helft |first=Miguel |date=April 1, 2010 |title=Yahoo Teams Up with Healthline |work=The New York Times |department=Bits (blog) |url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/yahoo-teams-up-with-healthline/ |access-date=April 1, 2010}} Other partners have included AARP.com, The Dr. Oz Show web site, and insurance company Aetna.{{cite web|last=Kolbasuk McGee|first=Marianne|title=Aetna Taps Healthline for Patient Portal|url=http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare/patient-tools/aetna-taps-healthline-for-patient-portal/d/d-id/1096901|work=Information Week|access-date=March 29, 2011}}

There are questions about the quality and neutrality of their content.

For example, the site Health News Review said a Healthline article about a new medication used promotional language copied from the drug-maker's press release, neglected to cite side effects, and framed the drug's claimed benefits in misleading language that failed to accurately reflect the evidence in a peer-reviewed medical journal.{{Cite web|title=When 'fact-checked' health news doesn't tell the whole story|url=https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2018/03/when-fact-checked-health-news-doesnt-tell-the-whole-story/|date=28 March 2018|first=Joy|last=Victory|work=HealthNewsReview.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203043141/https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2018/03/when-fact-checked-health-news-doesnt-tell-the-whole-story/|archive-date=3 December 2020|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Why fact-checking alone often fails us on health care topics|url=https://centerforhealthjournalism.org/2019/09/18/why-fact-checking-doesnt-always-save-us-ourselves-health-care-topics|date=19 September 2019|first=Gary|last=Schwitzer|work=Center for Health Journalism|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204213329/https://centerforhealthjournalism.org/2019/09/18/why-fact-checking-doesnt-always-save-us-ourselves-health-care-topics|archive-date=4 February 2021|url-status=live}} Another news reviewer noted that an article on depression cited studies that had not been peer-reviewed, but provided "multiple perspectives from both within and outside the research articles" without exaggeration.{{Cite web|title=Healthline uses multiple perspectives to illuminate findings related to neurological influences on depressive disorders|url=https://www.scifeye.org/reviews/healthline-uses-multiple-perspectives-to-illuminate-findings-related-to-neurological-influences-on-depressive-disorders|date=26 February 2020|first1=Kimya|last1=Manouchehri|first2=Julia|last2=Schmid|work=SciFeye|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212045037/https://www.scifeye.org/reviews/healthline-uses-multiple-perspectives-to-illuminate-findings-related-to-neurological-influences-on-depressive-disorders|archive-date=12 February 2021|url-status=live}}

In a study using coverage of neck pain to evaluate a tool designed to review health websites, researchers from the University of Brighton gave Healthline a score of "good". In particular, the website received high marks in areas such as accuracy, readability, disclosure of sources and ownership, and usability, with lower scores in areas such as comprehensiveness and accessibility.{{Cite journal |last1=Zubiena |first1=Luke |last2=Lewin |first2=Olivia |last3=Coleman |first3=Robert |last4=Phezulu |first4=James |last5=Ogunfiditimi |first5=Gbemisola |last6=Blackburn |first6=Tiffany |last7=Joseph |first7=Leonard |date=2023-08-01 |title=Development and testing of the health information website evaluation tool on neck pain websites – An analysis of reliability, validity, and utility |url=https://cris.brighton.ac.uk/ws/files/39877650/Published_script.pdf |journal=Patient Education and Counseling |language=en |volume=113 |pages=107762 |doi=10.1016/j.pec.2023.107762 |issn=0738-3991|doi-access=free |pmid=37087877 }}

Healthline's quality has been assessed as falling towards the middle of health information websites. A study of top-ranking health websites published in 2021 evaluated its quality as "good", lower than MedlinePlus's "excellent" scores but higher than affiliate Medical News Today's "fair/good" ranking.{{Cite journal |last1=Portillo |first1=Ivan A. |last2=Johnson |first2=Catherine V. |last3=Johnson |first3=Scott Y. |date=2021 |title=Quality Evaluation of Consumer Health Information Websites Found on Google Using DISCERN, CRAAP, and HONcode |url=https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=librarian_articles |journal=Medical Reference Services Quarterly (Link is to Preprint Version) |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=396–407 |doi=10.1080/02763869.2021.1987799 |issn=1540-9597 |pmid=34752199 |s2cid=243864890|url-access=subscription }} Healthline is included on Wikipedia's spam blacklist due to its publication of misinformation.{{Cite web |last=Dupré |first=Maggie Harrison |date=29 February 2024 |title=Wikipedia No Longer Considers CNET a "Generally Reliable" Source After AI Scandal |url=https://futurism.com/wikipedia-cnet-unreliable-ai |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Futurism}}

While some writers have used terms like "reliable"{{Cite journal |last1=Hayawi |first1=K. |last2=Shahriar |first2=S. |last3=Serhani |first3=M. A. |last4=Taleb |first4=I. |last5=Mathew |first5=S. S. |date=2022-02-01 |title=ANTi-Vax: a novel Twitter dataset for COVID-19 vaccine misinformation detection |journal=Public Health |language=en |volume=203 |pages=23–30 |doi=10.1016/j.puhe.2021.11.022 |pmid=35016072 |issn=0033-3506|pmc=8648668 }} to describe Healthline, others have questioned both the quality of its content and its usability and readability. A 2020 study of readability ranked Healthline the second hardest to read (highest education level required) among the top five Google search results for "phenylketonuria", excluding Wikipedia.{{Cite journal |last1=Marsh |first1=Jessie M. |last2=Dobbs |first2=Thomas D. |last3=Hutchings |first3=Hayley A. |date=October 2020 |title=The readability of online health resources for phenylketonuria |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-020-00461-9 |journal=Journal of Community Genetics |language=en |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=451–459 |doi=10.1007/s12687-020-00461-9 |issn=1868-6001 |pmc=7475157 |pmid=32221843 |doi-access=free}}

Healthline Media was founded in 1999 by endocrine specialist James Norman as YourDoctor.com.{{cite web|last=Roush|first=Wade|title=Healthline Battles WebMD With Personalized Medical Search Tools, Body Maps|url=http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2011/11/30/healthline-battles-webmd-with-personalized-medical-search-tools-and-3d-body-maps/|publisher=Xconomy|access-date=November 30, 2011}} In 2006, the company re-launched as Healthline Networks.{{cite web|title=Healthline Networks, Inc.|url=http://www.insideview.com/directory/healthline-networks-inc|publisher=InsideView|access-date=December 18, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131218020431/http://www.insideview.com/directory/healthline-networks-inc|archive-date=December 18, 2013|url-status=dead}}

In 2011, Healthline was reported to be losing money because it was licensing its content from others. The company invested $1 million to develop its own content.Sluis, Sarah: [https://www.adexchanger.com/the-sell-sider/how-a-focus-on-quality-and-discipline-revived-healthline-media/ "How A Focus On Quality And Discipline Revived Healthline Media"], April 17, 2019, AdExchanger.com, retrieved November 15, 2020. By 2013, it had over $21 million in revenue and 105 employees, with offices in New York City and San Francisco. Deloitte ranked Healthline Media as one of the top 500 fastest-growing technology companies in North America from 2010 to 2013.{{cite web|title=Technology Fast 500|url=http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Industries/technology/technology-fast500/index.htm|publisher=Deloitte|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219015135/http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Industries/technology/technology-fast500/index.htm|archive-date=December 19, 2013|df=mdy-all}}

In January 2016, Healthline raised $95 million in growth equity financing through Summit Partners.Healthline Media Raises Growth Financing from Summit Partners http://www.summitpartners.com/news/healthline-media-raises-growth-financing-from-summit-partners 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.[https://www.prweb.com/releases/healthline_media_grows_digital_reach_with_acquisition_of_1_website_for_medical_news_information/prweb13368746.htm Healthline Media Grows Digital Reach with Acquisition of #1 Website for Medical News Information]

In July 2019, Healthline was acquired by Red Ventures. In August 2020, Healthline acquired Psych Central.{{cite press release|title=Healthline Media Acquires PsychCentral, Bolstering Healthline's Role as the Top Digital Health Publisher|date=August 14, 2020 |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200814005329/en/Healthline-Media-Acquires-PsychCentral-Bolstering-Healthline%E2%80%99s-Role-as-the-Top-Digital-Health-Publisher|publisher=Businesswire|access-date=September 24, 2020}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|www.healthline.com}}

{{Red Ventures}}

Category:American medical websites

Category:Health care companies established in 1999

Category:Internet properties established in 1999

Category:Companies based in San Francisco

Category:1999 establishments in California

Category:Red Ventures

Category:2019 mergers and acquisitions