Can social media help in the recruitment of patients for clinical research? Interesting results by Admon and his team suggest that social media could be a very effective and inexpensive approach to recruit patients.

Admon, L., Haefner, J., Kolenic, G., Chang, T., Davis, M., & Moniz, M. (2016). Recruiting Pregnant Patients for Survey Research: A Head to Head Comparison of Social Media-Based Versus Clinic-Based Approaches. Journal Of Medical Internet Research, 18(12), e326. doi:10.2196/jmir.6593 http://bit.ly/2hr4NrL

example of FaceBook ad used during recruitment

cost break per completed survey of social media based versus clinic based recruitment

Interesting data by Sprout Social regarding what followers really think about a brand on social media.

The Q3 2016 Sprout Social Index Turned Off: How Brands are annoying customers on social http://bit.ly/2bNcOt5

 

“10 Things for Pharma Marketers to Know about Facebook and Instagram.” MM&M. 29 Nov. 2016. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

There are many opportunities for even pharmaceutical companies on Facebook and Instagram. Here are some top tips for pharma from Facebook Health on how to reach out and engage with audiences on Facebook and Instagram.

Inc., Hootsuite Media. “LiftMetrix & Hootsuite.” LiftMetrix & Hootsuite. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

The key challenge facing social marketers is probably measuring social media ROI and which metric(s) do you choose. According to AdAge and as reported in the ebook, social media spend is expected to make up over 20% of all marketing budgets by 2020. And social ad spend in the US is expected to exceed $12 billion in 2016.

Some of the biggest challenges for social marketers? ROI and connecting the dots between social media and business outcomes.

Social@Ogilvy Follow. “How Pharma Companies Are Using Social Media.” Share and Discover Knowledge on LinkedIn SlideShare. 04 Nov. 2016. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

A social media check up by Ogilvy of where pharmaceutical companies are on social media and how they are using social media.

Patient-Centered Checklists: The Next Frontier for Engagement? NEJM Catalyst. http://catalyst.nejm.org/patient-centered-checklists-next-frontier/. Published August 2016. Accessed December 12, 2016.

Patient engagement + technology + checklists = smart lists. The use of interactive checklists or “smartlists” could be the future for better patient engagement. Switching from paper based checklists to a digital checklist, could this be the secret sauce to better patient engagement? Physicians can engage with patients through an interactive checklist, thereby facilitating the dialogue between patient and physician and making sure the patient journey is on course. Yet to see is the impact of these smartlists.

Silverman, Ed. “FDA to Study How Promotional Tweets for Drugs Should Convey Side Effects.” STAT. 04 Dec. 2016. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

FDA will study if one click can be a feasible way to provide drug safety information to the public on digital platforms.  Written comments can be submitted by January 6, 2017. For further information please visit Federal Register website.

Original Research: David H. Thom, Jessica Wolf, Heather Gardner, Denise DeVore, Michael Lin,Andy Ma, Ana Ibarra-Castro, and George Saba. A Qualitative Study of How Health Coaches Support Patients in Making Health-Related Decisions and Behavioral Changes. Ann Fam Med November/December 2016 14:509-516;doi:10.1370/afm.1988

This qualitative research identifies 7 themes to a successful outcome of  health coaches and patients working together: 1) shared characteristics; Availability; trusting relationship; education; personal support; decision support; bridging (health coach is the liaison or bridge).

“How Did We Get Here?”: Topic Drift in Online Health Discussions. Park A, Hartzler AL, Huh J, Hsieh G, McDonald DW, Pratt J Med Internet Res 2016;18(11)

Online conversation in health can lead to a change in topic discussions – otherwise referred to as topic drift. Can an automated tool help detect and bring the discussion back on topic?

Use of Social Media in the Diabetes Community: An Exploratory Analysis of Diabetes-Related Tweets. Liu Y, Mei Q, Hanauer DA, Zheng K, Lee JM. JMIR Diabetes 2016;1(2):e4

The study sets out to examine how patients, consumers and physicians are using social media to facilitate discussions related to diabetes. Discussion related to diabetes are taking place and the study also demonstrates that the location of tweets indicates are happening at a global level.

5 Best practices to augment a pharma social media strategy. By John MacDaniel, senior director, digital and voice of the consumer, Telerx. October 7, 2016 Life Science Leader

A must read for pharmaceutical companies on embracing social media and the need to advance on the social maturity scale.

Pharma 3D: Rewriting the script for marketing in the digital age. Wharton, Google, McKinsey & Company.

The 3D approach: Discover hot to effectively engage with patients and providers at the moments that matter most; Design customer experiences that align content, messages, and media to build a mutually beneficial relationship; and Deliver those experiences consistently, superbly, and efficiently.

McKinsey research shows that companies that are most advanced in integrating their digital strategies into their business model (referred to as Digital Quotient) also show a growth in revenues.

Why sales leaders are reluctant to adapt to the digital age. July 14, 2016 trap!t Blog.

Still using the playbook from the past? Or otherwise you are still in a dinosaur team? If you are a laggard you will risk extinction.

The benefits and pitfalls of blogging about your illness. Marie Ennis-O’Connor. October 25, 2016

People have always shared their stories and experiences. The Internet has just made it easier for people to connect and share.

Case study Spectrum Health System (2013). Engaging, responding within 24 hours and being HIPPA compliant on social media.

“Nothing about us without us” – patient partnership in medical conferences BMJ 2016; 354 Published 14 September 2016 Larry F. Chu et al. BMJ 2016;354:i3883. One key new highlight from this publication, in my opinion, is the dissemination of information from medical conferences by patients. The greater the participation of patients at medical conferences the greater the number of tweets.

Juror over drug prices puts patient advocacy groups in bind. By Katie Thomas New York Times September 27, 2016 Interesting take on what is the future of patient groups. Their absence in the debate of drug pricing and donations they receive from pharmaceutical companies leaves one to think what role these groups will play in the future.

Invest in CX to drive customer loyalty, advocacy and smiles. June 6, 2016 presentation by Kevin Cochrane at Gartner’s Digital Marketing Conference. We need to remember that behind every device is a real human being. Customer experience is learning about real people.                   

Is AI Better at Diagnosing Disease than a Doctor? August 18, 2016 by Steve Arar. A look at how artificial intelligence such as IBM Watson, Google Deepmind and Babylon are being used in the medical field.                                      

How to run an empathy & user journey mapping workshop – medium – Harry Brignull Jan 4 2016. Understanding what real people want and need. Thinking in terms of users and journeys.

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell, highlights the 10,000 hour rule. People that are or have been successful is because of opportunities given to them and because they had dedicated 10,000 hours of practice that allowed them to be masters in their field.

Pharmaceutical companies and their drugs on social media: a content analysis of drug information on popular social media sites. Jennifer Tyrawski, MA and David C. DeAndrea, PhD. J Med Internet Res. 2015 Jun; 17(6): e130. Reviews how pharmaceutical companies are using eDTCA (electronic Direct to Consumer Advertising) on social media platforms. The research articles attempts to answer the following questions:

1. To what extent is eDTCA present on pharmaceutical companies’ social media accounts?
2. What is the nature of the user – generated content present on pharmaceutical companies’ social media accounts?
3. To what extent are (1) drug efficacy claims, (2) personal testimonials, and (3) illegal pharmacies present when searching on popular social media sites for pharmaceutical drugs?

Turned off: how brands are annoying customers on social.  The Q3 2016 Sprout Social Index

Seven steps to successful customer experience measurement programs. How to define the right CX metrics and use them to improve CX . Forrester. Maxie Schmidt-Subramanian. February 4, 2016. Update to previously published report. Tips on designing a professional CX measurement program.

Digital drug safety surveillance: monitoring pharmaceutical products in twitter. Clark C. Freifeld, John S. Brownstein, Christopher M. Menone, Wenjie Bao, Ross Filice, Taha Kass-Hout, Nabarum Dasgupta. Drug Saf (2014) 37:343-350. The study sets out to study if there is there a concordance between Twitter posts mentioning a Adverse Event – like reaction and spontaneous reports received by a regulatory agency.

The rise of digital influence. March 21, 2012 By Brian Solis with Alan Webber The Altimeter Group. Excellent resource for defining and understanding who is the digital influencer. Also understanding the features that distinguish an influencer.  What makes an influencer an influencer.

Social media “likes” healthcare. From marketing to social business. PWC Health Research Institute April 2012.

Four characteristics about social media that still hold true today; consumer generated content, community, rapid distribution, and open and two way dialogue. Interesting the concept of moving from a social media strategy to a social strategy.

2016 Social media Industry Index (Track Maven).

Pharmaceuticals may have the largest number of LinkedIn followers, but they need to work more on their interactions per post.

Where are you on the path to CX management maturity? Assessment: the customer experience maturity playbook. Megan Burns March 28, 2016 Forrester. Update to a previously published report. Reviewing customer experience (CX) management and where you stand on CX management maturity model.