Trending Now: Only 50% of companies have developed meaningful social media programs, although the industry as a whole is beginning to move in the right direction.
An IMS Health report, Engaging Patients through Social Media, takes a close look at the way pharmaceutical manufacturers are using social media, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Wikipedia to engage with patients. While blogs, forums, physician networks, and patient support websites are an important part of social media interactions, these channels were not examined in detail in this report.
Use of social networking sites has grown from 8% of all adults online in 2005, to 67% in late 2012 and up to 72% of U.S. adults online in May 2013.
» One in four pharmaceutical salesforce interactions with doctors, healthcare providers, and patients in the United States is now estimated to be digital.
» Facebook is reported as the fourth most popular source of health information in the U.K.
» In the United States, interest in specific diseases receives the greatest amount of attention in social media relating to healthcare, followed by lifestyle changes, health insurance details, and safety information.
» When making clinical decisions, physicians spend twice as much time using online resources compared with print sources.
» Physicians on average spend three hours per week watching online videos for professional purposes and cite Medscape and YouTube followed by pharmaceutical company websites as the most important sources of video.
For more information, visit imshealth.com.
Chantix Sponsors Wego Quit Smoking Sharing Hub
Chantix sponsors the community sharing hub on Wego Health for smoking cessation, which offers a prescription coupon, safety and prescribing information, as well as a calculator to show how much money can be saved by not purchasing cigarettes.
Pfizer’s Chantix was FDA-approved in May 2006.
The quit smoking plan, which can be tailored to each participant’s needs, can be shared over Facebook, Twitter, and email.
The plan includes an educational video that explains some of the common physical and behavioral challenges of quitting, as well as a video with tips on how to increase success
For more information, visit http://bit.ly/16Jtngs.
Truvio Offers Voice of Patient Data
Truvio, an influencer-powered, voice response research platform for the healthcare industry, allows researchers to tap into more than 65,000 consumer health opinion leaders across hundreds of health topics and conditions.
Built on the Vocalize Voice-Response platform, and powered by the Wego Health Activist network, Truvio’s mobile research platform accelerates the process of obtaining the true voice of health consumers.
The Truvio mobile platform collects results in real time and Wego Health’s hyper-engaged consumer influencer members respond quickly with informed opinions.
For more information, visit truvio.com.
Physician Network Doximity Doubles Members
Doximity’s physician network doubled in size last year to 250,000 members. According to a report on VentureBeat, the network now has more members than the American Medical Association. Doximity’s website states that one in every three physicians is a member, or 35% of all U.S. physicians. Doximity has been recognized as a top app for physicians by the American College of Physicians and others.
Launched in 2011, the company has experienced continued growth, including adding features such as a recruiting tool called Talent Finder, an API to enable easy authentication, a digital fax line, and a continuing medical education platform. Doximity partners with U.S. News & World Report, Cleveland Clinic, and Stanford.
For more information, visit doximity.com.
Clickable Paper Connects Digital and Print Content
Clickable Paper is a new cross-media service that enables consumers to receive related online content simply by pointing a smartphone at any printed surface. Created by Ricoh, a global technology company, Clickable Paper technology can be used with any kind of printed media — newspapers, magazines, direct mail, books, brochures, and posters — to deliver all types of digital information or services, such as multimedia content, websites, e-commerce services, and social networks.
Key features of Clickable paper include: fast and robust recognition of content including text (in any language); images, photographs, or a combination; multiple hotspots per document without editing or reformatting of original source material; an authoring tool that enables online content to be associated with each hotspot; support for a large database of authored documents; and user-friendly mobile app for smartphones.
For more information, visit rii.ricoh.com/clickable-paper.
