I'm curious as to what these "hackfests" you refer to are. Are they meetups from meetup.com in your area? I'm in a similar situation, a UI designer looking for a developer co-founder and haven't found any luck either.
I agree that more innovation needs to spread across different fields outside of computers and software. But it doesnt just take the knowledge of technology to innovate but the knowledge of that particular field. In a way you need to be an expert in both worlds.
I think you're taking the site for what it isn't instead for what it is. Curenote is not a replacement for seeing your doctor. It's a way of getting supplementary health advice from other people who may have experienced similar situations. This doesn't mean you have to follow their advice. You should always think about what they're suggesting to see if it makes sense to follow. A lot of people have a lot of health knowledge they can share. This is way for them to do just that.
I think this offers three things that googling up information doesn't.
#1 It's much more than just reading facts about an ailment. You're asking a health question about your personal situation and getting other peoples help, whether it's through their own experience, knowledge or whatever it may be. In some ways its even more reliable because you have other people to verify what worked for them and what didn't. You don't get that type of raw, personal information from referencing facts on a sheet of paper.
#2 You're not only getting raw information, but you get it targeted to your specific situation because you can ask questions. This means you can share different details and nuances about your situation and get answers that are directly related to that. Some people may have a paraticular health question and will resaearch online for hours and just find information that's not really targeted to their unique situation. Curenote lets you ask a specific question and get targeted answers.
#3 There are other health forums out there, but Curenote is designed to be easier to use and read, while looking beautiful and elegant. A lot of forums are badly designed with text that's hard to read, littered with ads all around, spam comments and hard to use navigations. Curenote strives to do better. It also only focuses on the key health topics that most people are inundated with everyday. These aren't just topics that affect the elderly, but teenagers and young adults as well.
I will address your concern. How do we know the validity of an answer if we don't know if the person giving the answers is a doctor?
That's a valid question. But that question basically assumes that only doctors have the answers. While doctors are certainly smart and know their stuff, that doesn't mean that other people who have experienced similar health situations are inept and unable to offer any value.
There are many cases where other people, who are not doctors, have helped others through the sharing of health information and personal experience.
Curenote is NOT a substitute for seeing your doctor. But there are some cases where you may not need to go to the doctor where a simple remedy offered by others can help. There are cases where you might need to go to a doctor and other people can give you the support you need to help you.