Yup, we know we dropped the ball this month on our Influencer of the Month – our sincerest apologies. However, we have plenty of good excuses for our blatant tardiness. We’ve just been so busy at Traackr with projects and continuing to expand our technology, that we’ve been slacking a bit on the blogging. But enough with excuses – now on to our February Influencer of the Month, KevinMD!

Who is Kevin Pho, M.D.?

Dr. Pho, better known as KevinMD, has surfaced on a number of Traackr lists, all in the health spectrum, but in very different areas. We’ve seen him in a diabetes insulin a-list, weight loss surgery a-list and a general health care influencers a-list. So basically, he’s everywhere on our health radar, so he should probably be on yours too if he’s not already. Let us explain.

Dr. Pho is an internal medicine primary care physician with a practice in Nashua, NH., who began blogging in 2004 after seeing too many news and health stories with no medical professional backing to it, according to an interview with the pulse. As more and more of these stories were misconstrued by patients, Dr. Pho decided someone needed to step up. Through blogging, Dr. Pho figured he could share his thoughts and find a voice for the physician community, which is exactly what he did. Six years later, he has become social media’s leading online physician voice, and is continually quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, CNN and many other major mainstream and medical media. In 2008, his blog was named Best Medical Blog of 2008 in the Medical Weblog Awards with more than 21,000 RSS subscribers.

Now, six years after starting the blog, Dr. Pho continues to consistently update his blog and interact with his growing 19,000 + Twitter followers, more than 1,800 Facebook fans and countless other devoted readers and fans.

Lets be honest, it’s not everyday that you find a doctor that is not only willing, but actually does devote their time to talking openly and leading honest conversation about health care issues. Perhaps the most helpful aspect of the blog to his readers is the comfortable space he has created in which discussions about hot, yet personal topics such as mammograms are possible. An observer of the blog put it best; “a lively comment stream on one of Kevin’s posts provides more insight on the day-to-day realities of health care than any piece of journalism can ever hope to impart.”

It’s this honest perspective from a true professional, safe environment in which readers can share their experiences, worries and objections, and consistent interaction with his readers that has allowed KevinMD to become the leading physician voice online today. And the best part? He’s not doing it for the money or for the professional credit, but for the people. Wow, good for you KevinMD.