NEW GLOUCESTER, ME – As we sat down to plan our new Web site, we knew the most valuable improvement we could make would be to increase our readers' involvement and interaction with us and each other.

That's why we've added a strong set of Web 2.0 features to help expand the role of you, the reader, on our site.

Reader commenting

My favorite feature on our new site is the ability of the reader to comment on all of our news stories, blogs, podcasts and videos. There's no better way for the healthcare IT community to benefit from our coverage than by engaging each other in conversations stimulated by our content. Every reader can leave comments once they've registered for the site. Adding to the value of this feature is our ability to get instant, in-context feedback from you in response to our coverage. I look forward to joining your discussions!

Article rating

Another great aspect of the new site is the rating feature you'll find on each of our news stories. When you give a 1-5 star rating to one of our news stories, you're helping the reader community find the stories that are the most valuable to them. We know our readers are some of the busiest people in the industry - that's why I'm happy they'll have ratings as a guide based on testimony from fellow readers. Furthermore, the ratings will allow us to target our coverage on the kinds of stories you love best - and steer away from the ones you don't.

Homepage selection

In the gray navigation bar at the top of the main page of this site, you'll see the words "Select your homepage." Click the link icon next to this phrase, and you'll see that you can choose one of our five main news sections as the page you'll hit every time you visit the site. For instance, if our hospital news is the most important to you, select "Hospitals & IDNs" and you'll see that news first and foremost when you visit the site. Don't worry - you can always reset your homepage later if you so choose.

Healthcare IT News Blog

The concept of the blog - one of the pillars of the Web 2.0 movement - has been extremely successful in the online healthcare IT community, and that's why we're happy to add an integrated and extensive blog to our site. Our blog includes feature bloggers delivering ideas and opinions on specific topics - such as Deborah Peel on patient privacy issues - and syndicated bloggers drawn from the larger healthcare IT "blogosphere" - such as David Kibbe and John Halamka. Additionally, the blog will be home in 2009 to an exclusive series of articles detailing the development and launch of an all-digital, Stage-Seven cancer hospital.

Sharing/Social networking links

At the top of every piece of news and multimedia content on our site, you'll find an icon that looks like a silhouette of two people. Hover your mouse over this icon and you'll be presented with a broad selection of social networking and sharing options. Choose your favorite ones to share a news story, video, podcast or blog with your colleagues on networks outside of Healthcare IT News.

I hope you find these features valuable to your experience when reading our new site. Please feel free to comment on this story (below) with your questions, opinions, and ideas or contact me privately at chip.means@medtechpublishing.com.