By Matthew Holt

Two of the better behaved and more innovative health plans (both non-profit regional Blues) have been taking different approaches to Health 2.0, user-generated content, communities and all that. BCBS Minnesota created a separate company called Consumer Aware which created HealthCare Facts, and the Healthcare Scoop. Now the Healthcare Scoop is going national. (You can hear more about that in the podcast I did with CEO MaryAnn Stump last year).

Meanwhile, in the Pacific Northwest Regence has been beavering away creating its own communities within its core web site — and has been making a pretty job of it, too. They’re theoretically for members only, but you can get a guest pass. And there’s a good deal of activity there. Which kind of answers the question, should health plans get involved in Health 2.0?  These early adopters say, yes.

And, of course, I’d be remiss in my crass marketing duty if I didn’t tell you that Mary Ann Stump and Regence’s Joe Gifford will both be at the Health 2.0 Conference in October.