I've got an idea for a site and wanted to bounce the idea off some knowledgeable folk before I pursued it further.
The Plan: The idea is to have a website for users to track their data regarding a specific medical condition. This data is of a medical nature therefore subject to specific laws therefore I want to cover my posterior before I get myself lynched. There would be two types of users, practitioners and regular users. Practitioners would be trained health specialists who are certified by an international organization, it's a small group therefore easily verifiable. Regular users would primarily be people who have taken a class with one of the practitioners and so there would be a practitioner-client relationship between users (one-to-many). Access to the site would be free, there would never be any fees to join as a user. The data would be specific statistics tailored towards this specific medical issue - specific stats corresponding with a timestamp and an optional note. Users would enter and keep track of their own stats and be able to chart their progress over time. In addition to the basic stats they would be able to submit questions to the practitioner they attended a class of to seek advice or just feedback on their progress; questions could have specific datasets attached for viewing. Another idea would be for the user to flag their data as openly viewable by their practitioner so the practitioner could keep track of their progress. These are two sides of the same coin, the difference is how the data is accessed, on one hand the user submits a specific set of data (push) whereas on the other hand the practitioner could see all of a user's data (pull). Lastly, one thing I was considering was an optional blog. To be allowed to have a blog either your practitioner would give you permission to do so, or you would have to be an active user for a specific period of time (e.g. 6 months). This would avoid the possible problem of someone setting up an account to use as a general blog and keep it topic-specific. With their blog users would be able to attach specific datasets (boasting rights, "look what I did") but on the whole it would be to keep a public textual record of their progress. In addition to the user-specific information, there would be: * a FAQ / knowledge base section of common tips and tricks on how to deal with the medical condition. This would also be available via a regular email newsletter. * general contact information for all practitioners along with details for what geographical areas they cover. * a store to purchase books, booklets, flip-charts, etc. There would be no medical devices or drugs available, it would specifically be informational data. The site would be paid for through sales of the media plus donations, there would be no advertisements of any sort. The Questions: The questions I have are: * Are the legalities for something like this so strict that its foolish for Joe Soap (i.e. me) to get involved? * Any recommendations on where I should look to find specifics on the US laws for something like this? * Has anyone got suggestions for me based on my ideas above? * The site would be US-based, due to how some countries/regions have gone a little funny regarding data (EU, UK), should I be best to keep it exclusive to US users only? * I'm presuming that if I do go ahead with it that at the very least I'll need a dedicated server, to remove the possibilities of someone obtaining the data. Do you think the laws would allow me (presuming I set up an LLC) to have other sites (e.g. my personal site) on the server or would it have to be exclusively for that one site? If it would be too legally questionable to do this as a hosted service I may reduce my plan a bit and do it as a per-user install, but I see a greater use for this as a hosted, openly accessible service. Any feedback would be appreciated. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include <stdjoke.h> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:197053 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
