Europe's largest social network for health has officially made its stateside debut and expanded its range of partners.

HealthUnlocked, which positions itself as a 'LinkedIn for health', allows people to ask - and answer - health questions and connect with people who share their health concerns, putting it in similar territory to US online health community PatientsLikeMe.

Its US launch coincides with the addition of 10 US health organisations to HealthUnlocked.com, including the US Armed Forces Foundation, Hepatitis Foundation International and Patient Power Cancer Network.

Jorge Armanet, HealthUnlocked CEO, said: “We are expanding rapidly because there is huge global demand for better healthcare information and support. Our constant technology evolution and expansion to the US are enabling us to connect people with relevant, personalised health information anytime, anywhere.”

One of the fastest growing health tech startups in the UK, HealthUnlocked's global online support network is made up of over 500 patient organisations and health support charities, and covers over 750 health conditions.

The digital health company was founded in 2010 by Armanet and chief medical officer Dr Matt Jameson Evans and last month received three million site visits.

HealthUnlocked already provides NHS Choices' user-generated, interactive content via the communities section.

Paul Nuki, chief editor at NHS Choices, said: “HealthUnlocked is a fantastic platform, offering many benefits to healthcare as a whole. We often refer NHS Choices users to HealthUnlocked forums, fully confident they will receive first class peer-to-peer advice. It's all about expert patients sharing their knowledge and, in turn, creating a new generation of experts.”

The company said that before joining its community seven out of ten patients on HealthUnlocked had never spoken to another patient with the same condition before.

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