Healthcare communications and marketing news and information

I’m a big fan of Internet-powered healthcare because it has the power to improve lives.  This is why I’m excited about a new contest being co-hosted at DiabetesMine.com and MedGadget.  With support from IDEO, a California-based design firm the initiative aims to spur innovation in the diabetes device field by tapping into the collective wisdom of crowds.  The contest sponsors are looking for people to submit ideas for novel diabetes devices – via video or text – and potentially win $1600.  

To learn more about the contest, which ends on June 16, 2008, please click here.

An article published in yesterday’s USA Today should give proponents of personal health records and ehealth.  The story focused on how thieves are stealing medical records and using them to rack up fraudulent charges.  According to the article:

“Doctors' offices, clinics and hospitals are a fruitful hunting ground for identity thieves, who are using increasingly sophisticated methods to steal patient information, lawyers and privacy experts say. . . . Legal experts say lawbreakers use medical information to get credit card numbers, drain bank accounts or falsely bill Medicare and other insurers.”

There isn’t a lot to say here that is not blindingly self-evident.  Clearly, we shouldn’t use privacy concerns as an excuse to discourage people from using personal medical records and taking advantage of online health resources.  However, we need to be sure people are educated – starting today – about the dangers of medical identity theft and how to prevent it.  

Earlier today, I came across an interesting post on one of my must-read blogs, e-patients.net. John Grohol wrote an interesting review of a report I wrote about recently, The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media.  Grohol calls it a “nice overview of the current state of Health 2.0.”  However, he does feel one of the report’s implications, that “old-style virtual support groups didn't result in ‘practical solutions to chronic health challenges’” is really “off the mark.” 

Jane Sarasohn Kahn, the author of the report said: “[i]ncreasing numbers of people are reaching out to others for more than the kind of support they might have found in the CompuServe health interest groups in the 1980s.  They are finding practical solutions to health challenges.”  If Kahn meant to say that the old-style e-mail listservs and online bulletin board did not provide people with “practical solutions” to their problems, then I would have to agree with Grohol.  One of the powerful benefits of these early support groups was that people received answers to questions they were afraid or did not know to ask their health providers.  In many cases, the advice they received from others was invaluable. 

Over the past few months, the folks at Scribe Media and I have been working to expand the visibility and distribution of the Digital Health Revolution (DHR), a WebTV show we started last year.  During this period, we have held off on posting and conducting new interviews as we looked for ways to achieve this goal.

I’m pleased to announce that these efforts have borne fruit.  We have recruited a new partner for the program, Podango.  Podango is a “online video and audio network that enables publishers and companies to ‘get heard’ by today’s hard-to-reach, niche audiences."  You can still watch the Digital Health Revolution on ScribeMedia.org.  However, I’m very excited to announce that the program is now available via iTunes.  Now, you can watch DHR online or remotely and can keep up with new episodes by subscribing to the program using Apple's software.  Click here to visit DHR's home on Podango. 

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all those who participated in initial interviews for the program.  New episodes (these were taped last year) will appear next month.  We are also looking for additional guests.  Contact me at healthcarevox AT envisionsolutionsnow.com if you are interested in appearing on the program.  We will begin taping new episodes in June 2008.  

The California Healthcare Foundation (CHCF) has released a timely and interesting report focusing on healthcare social media.  It's titled "The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media." Jane Sarasohn-Kahn of THINK-Health developed the report.  From CHCF's Website:

"Social media on the Internet are empowering, engaging, and educating health care consumers and providers. While consumers use social media -- including social networks, personal blogging, wikis, video-sharing, and other formats -- for emotional support, they also heavily rely on them to manage health conditions.

The Internet has evolved from the information-retrieval of 'Web 1.0' to 'Web 2.0,' which allows people who are not necessarily technologically savvy to generate and share content. The collective wisdom harnessed by social media can yield insights well beyond the knowledge of any single patient or physician, writes report author Jane Sarasohn-Kahn. The outcome of this development is 'Health 2.0' -- a new movement that challenges the notion that health care happens only between a single patient and doctor in an exam room."

Overall, this report provides a great overview of the current state of health-focused social media.  It includes lots of commentary by many of the folks who are pioneering and using new technologies in this space, including my friend Amy Tenderich of Diabetes Mine.  

Those "in the know" will find the report covers some familiar ground, but there are lots of suprises.  It's  valuable primier for those still working to get their heads around this evolving area.  Pick up the report by clicking here. 

Also, many thanks to Sarasohn-Kahn for interviewing me and including my commentary in the report. 

Recently the federal government’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) launched a new Website, “Health Care Innovations Exchange” that features success stories on how health industry stakeholders are using a range of technologies to improve care.  What’s also interesting is that AHRQ is looking at what failed so that people can learn from others’ mistakes.  

Currently the Website features 100 case studies and will be updated every two weeks.  I believe this site is critically important.  A common mantra of those working in the e-health field is “this sounds nice,” but did it work?  With AHRQ’s new Website we can now learn from what others have done so that we are not constantly reinventing the wheel or simply throwing interventions at the wall to see what sticks.  Having more information does not preclude the need for experimentation and risk-taking, but it makes convincing people of the value of a particular technology much easier if you have a sense of its ROI.  

In March 2008, I was invited by Janice Nall of the CDC’s National Center for Health Marketing to give a presentation to the American Health Information Community (AHIC) Consumer Empowerment Workgroup. (Disclosure: CDC is an Envision Solutions client.)  The Workgroup is charged with (among other things) helping to encourage the “widespread adoption of personal health records [PHRs] over time.”  The Workgroup has solicited commentary and advice from a range of players in the PHR arena, including Microsoft.  To learn more about the Workgroup’s efforts, please click here.

During the March meeting, I gave a presentation focusing on how Americans have adopted social/interactive media technologies.  In my talk, I discussed how some misconceptions (e,g, the digital divide – at least when it comes to race – is insurmountable) do not stand up to the evidence.  This presentation was designed to introduce the concept that social media can potentially be used to help drive uptake of PHRs.

In this month’s Workgroup meeting, (which took place yesterday) Nall presented some recommendations on how social media can help enhance the functionality and acceptance of PHRs.  Her social media-related recommendations, which you can view here, are:

-Use social media to engage existing and PHR users in the dialogue about the technology
-Engage social media and marketing leaders in the PHR development process
-Develop formal marketing plan to incorporate data into a research-based marketing plan

Here’s where Nall is asking for your help.  There is a lot of knowledge in the blogosphere about PHRs and social media.  Thus, she would like you to weigh in on the recommendations and present other ideas on how social media can improve the acceptance and adoption of PHRs.  If you’d like to contribute to this conversation, please leave a response (as extensive as you’d like) in the comment section below.  I will gather your comments and deliver them to CDC and the Workgroup for their next meeting.  Ultimately, the Workgroup will select certain recommendations, which will be presented to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt.

Thank you in advance for your help.  I look forward to reading your recommendations.

Image Source: NYU Stern School of Business  

Like many of you, I have been finding it more and more difficult to keep up with the steady stream of pharma-related news pouring from bloggers, news outlets and other sources.  Recently, I’ve taken to reading the pharma-related blogs about three times a week – usually at the end of a long day.  That is down significantly from about a year ago, when I read them each morning.  

I’ve been feeling a bit guilty about this because I’m an information junkie.  I need my daily dose of infocomfort food to keep me happy and well fed.  So, when I saw an interesting e-mail come across my inbox from Oregon-based MyPharmaNote, I was very intrigued.  They have built a Digg-like social bookmarking site “where you can quickly scan what's of interest in the pharma industry.”  MyPharmaNote is currently in beta.

There are other pharma news aggregators out there like PageFlakes. It lists the newest items from some of the pharma-related blogs.  I’ve gotten a lot of use out of the site.  However, I’ve found sites like Digg and del.icio.us very useful as they allow anyone to highlight information they find compelling and easily share it with others.  However, it is important to take steps to ensure that the site does not become a haven for spammers and cluttered by people seeking to use it solely for self-promotion.

So, because I think MyPharmaNote could help others, I’ve decided to spread the word about the site.  Please note that because it is still in beta, it’s pretty sparse.  However, if enough people get interested in it, I expect that to change.  

Earlier today, my friend Amy Tenderich published a fascinating interview with Don Jones, Qualcomm’s vice president of Business Development.  During their conversation, Jones focused on how wireless technologies will aid disease prevention and diagnosis.  All this was interesting, but I was most fascinated by his discussion of Qualcomm’s research into how wireless phones can help diabetes patients.  He said:

“We've done a ton of research -- focus groups around the country on storyboards to prototypes -- to understand how wireless connectivity be used to change people’s lives in a way that they think is valuable.

For diabetes, research suggests that an integrated meter in a phone is far more appealing to Type 2’s than Type 1’s -- because the Type 2's test less often, and don’t always carry their meter.  With the phone, they'd always have it on-hand.  They're also more interested in the coaching and convenience of the services.”

Very interesting stuff and a must-read for anyone interested in how mobile will influence health today and tomorrow.

Earlier this week, ePharmaceuticals published an interesting report focusing on pharmaceutical mobile marketing, "Opportunity texts: Mobile marketing and the pharmaceutical industry." I just ordered the report, so I haven’t gotten a chance to dig into it yet.  However, it’s very interesting that pharmaceutical marketers are concerned about some very familiar issues when it comes to mobile.  For example ePharmaceuticals observes:

“Although many industries employ mobile banner ads, it's harder for pharma to do so because there is often no room to include the FDA-required fair balance on the very small screens. Although there are ways for pharma companies to participate, many are afraid to be the first to use mobile in a campaign.”

Hmm . . . this sounds like what we were hearing about social media a few years back (wait, we’re still hearing it.).  The executive summary of the report highlights some basic mobile marketing “dos,” including:

-Be sure it's opt-in. Don't annoy consumers with unwanted messages.
-Provide an easy way to opt out. Merck's Tell Someone text campaign allowed users to text the word "STOP" to opt out.
-Use a 360° approach. Integrate mobile calls to action through a multimedia campaign.
-Build a database of the consumers who opt in to your campaign.

This sounds like a very interesting and informative report.  I can’t wait to read it.  To learn more about it, please click here.