A recent Forrester report, Consumers Toe-Dip In Health-Related Social Media, by my colleague Liz Boehm got me scrolling through Forrester's latest Healthcare and Communications Technographics® Online Survey. There was a lot of interesting information in there, but the data point that caught my eye was the following: only 30% of US online adults have not been diagnosed with any disease or medical condition. The top 10 show a wide range of illnesses, from  conditions like allergies to very severe diseases like depressions or diabetes.

Age is the main driver for this: About half of 18- to 24-year-olds have some kind of condition, while this is 94% for online Seniors (65 and older).

Why is this interesting for market researchers and marketing professionals? Because many of these people are using technology to manage and control their disease: they are using the Internet to research their condition, about half engage with their health insurer online, one in ten use text messages and email to get reminded to take their medication, and about 5% use health-related apps on their mobile to control their prescription, as well as monitor their behaviors. Understanding who these consumers are, and linking this with information collected via sites like America's Health Rankings, helps companies prioritize their service offerings.