What are the company's core values?

In 1999, Stephen Heywood was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) at the age of 29. Inspired by Stephen’s experiences with the disease, his brothers, Ben and Jamie, and long-time family friend, Jeff Cole, came up with the idea for a community of patients, doctors, and organizations that inspires, informs, and empowers individuals. The company launched its first beta community for ALS in March 2006. You can learn more about our mission, values and history here. 

PatientsLikeMe operates on four core values. 

These values shape every decision we make—from the way we build and enhance the site, to what business partnerships we develop.

• Patient Driven - We center patients without question. We trust that patients know what is best for them and their healthcare.  
• Community First - Our community drives our success. When we come together to help one another, we are stronger for it. 
• Integrated Health - Physical and mental health should not be managed in isolation. Healing should focus on improving the patient's physical well-being and psychosocial needs. 
• Trust and Transparency - We honor the trust our members place in us to safeguard their health data. We are committed to acting transparently and with integrity in using our members' data to deliver insights to our community.

Because trust is our most valuable asset, we want to know if you ever hear or see anything that concerns you on our website. You can contact the PatientsLikeMe team here.