Physician Portals Fill the Gap

Physician Portals Fill the Gap : " Physician portals, once low-value Web sites used as bulletin boards by medical societies or for back-door e-detailing by marketers, are now positioned to become a vital link in the national health information value chain. The convergence of two trends — the growing patient and physician comfort with accessing health information via the Web and the development of physician/patient online exchanges — have created an opportunity for physician portals to connect patient information with physician practice patterns. Integrated physician/patient data can dramatically increase the information value added by providers, payors, and manufacturers."
Are they making a comeback ? Is this a new business opportunity ?