MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'communications'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:48:37 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174613&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fafter-one-year-the-mayo-clinic-center-for-social-media-is-still-going-strong%2F2011.08.29 I’ve always been a great fan of what Mayo Clinic has been doing on social media. Then after Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media was launched, I became a member of the international external advisory board which I’m very proud of. I reported when they launched a patient community and also discussed how well they did this. Now the Center is 1 year old and still performs perfectly. An excerpt form their previous entry: Here’s a sneak peek of a few topics that were discussed during Mayo’s retreat: (more…) *This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174613 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:00:38 +0100 5174613 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4902405&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FI8niYC-xAnE%2F By Jim HarperIt might be tempting to laugh at France’s ban on words like “Facebook” and Twitter” in the media. France’s Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel recently ruled that specific references to these sites (in stories not about them) would violate a 1992 law banning “secret” advertising. The council was created in 1989 to ensure fairness in French audiovisual communications, such as in allocation of television time to political candidates, and to protect children from some types of programming. Sure, laugh at the French. But not for too long. The United States has similarly busy-bodied regulators, who, for example, have primly regulated such advertising themselves. American regulators carefully oversee non-secret advertising, too. Our govern... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4902405 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:35:53 +0100 4902405 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893915&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F4kemhBVPFZI%2F Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going, especially with all the layoffs. Despite the downsizing, there is movement. Here are some of the latest changes. Recognize anyone? And here is our regular feature. Send us a photo and we will spotlight a different person each week. This time around, we note that VeraxisHealth promoted Anthony Durso to senior director for strategic planning and client services. A 16-year marketing and sales veteran, he joined the medical education and communications firm in 2010 after running Elemental Consulting, a str... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893915 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:05:51 +0100 4893915 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872089&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthree-good-reasons-for-healthcare-professionals-to-use-social-networks%2F2011.05.27 Social networking allows doctors, nurses and other health professionals to deeply connect and engage with the community and their colleagues. “We are standing at the precipice of a new online revolution in health care. As more and more health experts embrace the Internet and increase their social media activity, health information seekers will undoubtedly benefit in profound ways.” [Source: Mashable] Dynamic health and medical professionals engaged in social networking, using Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and YouTube are on the front-line of new modern medicine. Today’s modern medicine is all about the patient.  Participating, partnering and developing a professional relationship is paramount. While many health consumers are searching the web for support, reassurance and specific health ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872089 Fri, 27 May 2011 21:00:03 +0100 4872089 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4758924&cid=t_97307_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2FyYhYZfeVzvA%2Finterview-hope-warshaw-on-her-free-eatsmart-apps.php We recently spoke with Hope Warshaw about her new, free EatSmart app for iPhone and Android. The app is published by Quantia Communications, a Diabetes Daily Sponsor.Q: What is the EatSmart app all about?We developed the EatSmart app specifically for people with prediabetes and type 2 in mind. Developing EatSmart was a collaboration. I brought the diabetes nutrition expertise and Quantia Communications, a Boston-based healthcare technology company, brought its expertise in delivering important medical information through the web and mobile devices. Quantia has taken the technology it has developed and used for years to deliver clinical content to healthcare providers on QuantiaMD.com and has now applied it to people with specific health concerns, such as diabetes.EatSmart consists of ... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4758924 Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:39:15 +0100 4758924 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4759022&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=39266&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCreationInteractive%2F%7E3%2FbsW_LgT-vq8%2F Creation Healthcare’s Elite Global Forum was conceived to be a no-nonsense, no-limits, global think tank. Since that time, several informal discussions have been taking place around the globe in which professionals from pharmaceutical, hospital, government and not-for-profit organizations challenge each other, share ideas, and look to break new ground in healthcare engagement. While attending conferences in New York, London, and Munich during the early part of this year (see where we’ll be next here), Creation Healthcare spent time interviewing just a few of these thought-leaders. The resulting conversations provided many fascinating insights into the rapidly changing communications landscape, which is maturing to some extent. These strategists and corporate communications professional... Creation Interactive blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4759022 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:00:35 +0100 4759022 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4709388&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=39266&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCreationInteractive%2F%7E3%2Flg0-QX0iXwY%2F It was ironically only a couple of weeks ago that Creation Healthcare published a piece about “Healthcare engagement in the absence of regulatory guidance”. In that article, I made the point that “specific social media guidance cannot keep pace with change”, and more importantly that when using 3rd party engagement platforms like Facebook, Flickr or Twitter, a pharmaceutical company needs to ‘plan for change’. In what I perceive as a positive step, the PMCPA recently issued guidance on ‘Digital Communications’. I was pleasantly surprised to see a certain level of clarity and an attempt to be non-technology specific. I still felt that in some cases it was too specific, which I will explain as you read on. Even so, the inevitable ‘What does it mean for me?’ has me once ag... Creation Interactive blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4709388 Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:56:35 +0100 4709388 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4696686&cid=t_97307_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F10%2Fvirginia-heffernan-on-internet-addiction%2F I’ve been saying it for as long as it’s been around — “Internet addiction” is an unhealthy focus and fascination on the technology, as though it caused people to enjoy spending time interacting with it. If people are using the Internet to socialize — on Facebook, Twitter, etc. — how can we turn around and characterize that as a bad thing? Would we engage in the same negative characterization if we were referring to someone who simply did this over the telephone? Or face-to-face? Of course not. And that’s the disconnect that happens when psychologists throw out these not-well-thought-out terms to describe something they are concerned about. They turn it into a dysfunction through inadequate and poorly theorized labels, that then get picked up ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4696686 Sun, 10 Apr 2011 14:29:57 +0100 4696686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653306&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSM08H5Zny0A%2F By Jim HarperRandy May of the Free State Foundation has a characteristically good post about the AT&T/T-Mobile merger entitled: "The AT&T and T-Mobile Merger: Thinking Things Through." Among other smart ideas, Randy highlights the competitive game-playing that goes on in the merger review arena: When considering competitive and market impacts for purposes of merger reviews, observe the extent to which various competitors, often many competitors, mount vigorous campaigns designed to convince the antitrust authorities and the regulators that if the merger is approved there will be an absence of competition. Note the incongruity. There's level-headed thinking aplenty in this post from a long-time Federal Communications Commission and telecom-industry watcher. Check it out. Thinking Th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653306 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:38:57 +0100 4653306 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653397&cid=t_97307_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fmobile-health-and-dumb-phones.html Given the fact that practically every one on this planet will soon have their own personal mobile phone, it's a very tantalising goal to be able to use this personal phone to help people improve their personal health ! Mobile phones are personal; private and ubiquitous and can be very powerful tools ! Mhealth has become a "hot area" today - and there are many clever applications available which help phones to become health monitoring devises.However, most of these apps have been developed in the West and they are designed for "smartphones". They are cool and fun to play with but we desperately need clever developers to produce apps for dumb phones - the kind of phones the billion who are at the "bottom of the pyramid" have to use daily. This is a much bigger challenge - but the results can... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653397 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:39:00 +0100 4653397 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4631465&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fue904-gifrM%2F By Jim HarperMatt Yglesias takes my recent post gathering three links a little too seriously. Beyond their subject matter---the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile---the theme running through the links was that they were all to the TechLiberationFront blog, not that "the federal government should not try to manage the development of the communications marketplace." My humor is a little odd. Not everyone gets to come along.... But it's true that the federal government should not try to manage the development of the communications marketplace. So I'll defend that, and first principles, which Yglesias claims to have reached their limits when it comes to communications. First, I'll refine my thesis: the government should not manage the communications marketplace. What is a "marketplace"?... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4631465 Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:46:43 +0100 4631465 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4622229&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSfmPjGV3c8s%2F By Jim HarperNews that AT&T plans a purchase of T-Mobile has brought out a lot of commentary. On the TechLiberationFront blog, Larry Downes critiqued the emotional reaction of some advocates for government-managed communications. On the TechLiberationFront blog, Jerry Brito noted how the deal highlights the artificial spectrum scarcity created by the Federal Communications Commission. And on the TechLiberationFront blog, Adam Thierer catalogued a series of thoughts on various aspects of the merger. Picking up a theme? That's right: the federal government should not try to manage the development of the communications marketplace. Voices on the AT&T – T-Mobile Merger is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4622229 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:19:07 +0100 4622229 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4532257&cid=t_97307_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F02%2F28%2Fmoving-in-the-right-direction-my-new-role-at-psych-central%2F Oprah Winfrey told the 1997 graduating class of Wellesley College that failure is God’s way of saying “Excuse me, you’re moving in the wrong direction.” She also said that when you are doing what you were created to do, it should feel like breathing. The talk show host was spot on with me because the last six months as a strategic communications consultant (whatever the hell that is) at a large consulting firm felt like 175 days of suffocation. The more I tried to fit in with all the Harvard MBAs, the more awkward I felt (as a theology major). The more I studied the various models of change management and how to direct a government agency from vision to implementation, the greater gap I felt between who I was and what I was doing for a steady paycheck. I didn’t ma... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4532257 Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:45:58 +0100 4532257 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4424416&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=39273&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FePharmaSummit%2F%7E3%2FHSzFms08L5c%2Fepharma-insights-rx-podcast-series-3.html Je tweet donc je suis…If 17th century philosopher René Descartes were alive and working in pharma marcomm today, his mantra might well be “I Tweet, therefore I am.”Or put differently, Twitter has become the plumbing for modern pharma communications: You wouldn’t buy a house without it.That’s according to Mark Senak, a healthcare public affairs expert with Fleishman-Hillard’s D.C. office and author of the industry leading blog EyeOnFDA.The problem, of course, is that pipes inevitably clog, and the FDA isn’t much of a plumber.One might go so far as to suggest that the FDA is, in fact, the source of the clog, but in a plumbing context such a comparison might land yours truly in deep you-know-what.Instead, I’ll simply note that well-intentioned regulatory policy clearly does n... ePharma Summit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4424416 Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:00:00 +0100 4424416 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4411724&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FpVHziCcV3_E%2F Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going, especially with all the layoffs. Despite the downsizing, there is movement. Here are some of the latest changes. Recognize anyone? And here is our regular feature. Send us a photo and we will spotlight a different person each week. This time around, we note that Angelini Labopharm named Mary Anne Heino as president. She was formerly senior vp of sales and marketing at Labopharm, which last spring formed a joint venture with Angelini to commercialize an antidepressant. Before joining Labopharm, Heino wa... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4411724 Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:16:55 +0100 4411724 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4281300&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEndHZeya-Tg%2F By Jim HarperIs there something special about December? Perhaps it’s the spirit of giving that had the Federal Communications Commission voting yesterday to regulate Internet service. At the beginning of the month—December 1st—the Federal Trade Commission issued a report signaling its willingness to regulate online businesses. No, it’s not the fact that it’s December. It’s the fact that it’s after November. November—that’s the month when we had the mid-term election. The FCC and FTC appear to have held off coming out with their regulatory proposals ahead of the elections because the Obama administration couldn’t afford any more evidence that it heavily favors government control of the economy and society. There was already plen... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4281300 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:29:57 +0100 4281300 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4277813&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-1GQ_-u9ML8%2F By Jim HarperLarry Downes has depth of knowledge and a way with words, both of which he puts to good use in this C|Net opinion piece on the FCC’s vote today moving forward with public-utility-style regulation of Internet service. If you’re interested in learning detail about the issues, it’s a good read. My favorite part is the conclusion: The misplaced nostalgia for an Internet that has long since evolved to something much different and much more useful has led to the adoption today of rules that may have a similar effect. The FCC’s embrace of open-Internet rules may indeed preserve the Internet—but preserve it in the same way amber preserves the bodies of prehistoric insects. That gloomy outcome isn’t certain, of course. Internet technology has a wonde... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4277813 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 03:21:38 +0100 4277813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4277817&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FCjLLM0eqWBw%2F By Jim HarperThe FCC moves forward with a proposal to regulate Internet service today. It’s a bad idea. The one thing that pleases me about the ongoing debate over Internet regulation is the durability of Tim Lee’s November, 2008 Cato Policy Analysis, “The Durable Internet: Preserving Network Neutrality without Regulation.” My introduction of it is a good synopsis. The arguments against government regulation in the name of “net neutrality” have not changed: A good engineering principle is not made better if dogmatized and given to lawyers and bureaucrats to enforce as law. The FCC and its regulatory regime are almost sure to be captured by major ISPs and turned to their benefit, used to suppress competition and blunt innovation. A premise of net neutrali... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4277817 Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:16:32 +0100 4277817 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133709&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceroll.files.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fmayo-today.jpg Whenever I talk to doctors about using social media in medicine, they seem to think there are more cons than pros regarding this issue. I like reminding them about some major differences between 2000 and today: What would I do if… In 2000 Today I need clinical answer Try to find a collegue who knows it Post a question on Twitter I want to hear patient story about a specific condition Try to find a patient in my town Read blogs, watch YouTube I want to be up-to-date Go to the library once a week Use RSS and follow hundreds of journals I want to work on a manuscript with my team We gather around the table Use Google Docs without geographical limits (more…) *This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133709 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:00:33 +0100 4133709 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4097902&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FvGeylL-OA40%2F By Jim HarperThe Federal Communications Commission has established a new advisory group called the “Technological Advisory Council.” Among other things, it will advise the agency on “how broadband communications can be part of the solution for the delivery and cost containment of health care, for energy and environmental conservation, for education innovation and in the creation of jobs.” This is an agency that is radically overspilling its bounds. It has established goals that it has no proper role in fulfilling and that it has no idea how to fulfill. As we look for cost-cutting measures at the federal level, we could end the pretense that the communications industry should be regulated as a public utility. Shuttering the FCC would free up funds for better purposes... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4097902 Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:37:38 +0100 4097902 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4003242&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEKvvjeIVyVo%2F By Julian SanchezIf there were any doubt that the 90s are back in style, witness the Obama administration’s attempt to reignite the Crypto Wars by seeking legislation that would force Internet services to redesign their networks and products to provide a centralized mechanism for decrypting user communications. It cannot be stressed enough what a radical—and terrible—idea this is.  I’ll be writing on this at greater length this week, but a few quick points. First, while the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) already requires phone and broadband providers to build in interception capacity at their network hubs, this proposed requirement—at least going on the basis of the press description, since there’s no legislative text yet—is both broade... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4003242 Mon, 27 Sep 2010 15:43:01 +0100 4003242 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3987039&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTYd4fkSARtk%2F By Julian SanchezThe law normally advances by small and cautious steps—by the gradual extension of established precedents and rules to novel problems and fact patterns. Little wonder, then, that tricky questions of law often amount to conflicts between competing metaphors. Is a hard drive like a closed briefcase whose contents are all fair game for police once the “container” is legitimately opened? Or is it more like a warehouse containing hundreds or thousands of individual closed containers? If the latter, what are the “containers”? Directories? Individual files? A similar metaphor war figures in the FBI’s effort to expand its authority to acquire information from Internet Service Providers using National Security Letters, which are issued by agents witho... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3987039 Mon, 20 Sep 2010 16:33:22 +0100 3987039 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3973135&cid=t_97307_180_f&fid=38607&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fsuccessbeginstoday%2FBHWQ%2F%7E3%2FFuGwOPV0UkM%2F Is Twitter just noise? Have you given up on this personal communication tool? Are you tweeted out? That’s the way I feel sometimes when I look at my Twitter stream. There are Friend Fridays, massive re-tweets of popular quotations, and endless tweets about Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and on and on and on. Is there anything useful taking place here? Under the surface, I think there is. People are actually communicating, but it takes some tools to sift through the rubble to pull out the gems. Here are three quick tips to make life easier on this high speed data stream. 1. Give Your Twitter Homepage a Facelift. If you are still using a stock Twitter background, you may find that your followers won’t give you the time of day. Here is a quick ten minute solution. Fire up Powerpoint and creat... Success Begins Today blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3973135 Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:37:53 +0100 3973135 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3969058&cid=t_97307_109_f&fid=38951&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F09%2Fharvards-top-neurologist-just-says-no.html In a piece of extraordinarily good news for those of us promoting industry-free CME, one of Harvard's top neurologists, Martin Samuels, announced a new company, Lighthouse Learning, that will refuse any commercial funding for continuing medical education courses.The Boston Globe broke the story in this article on their front page, which is in itself significant. It means that mainstream journalists understand that the funding of medical education is no longer an arcane topic that is of interest only to a few insiders.The Globe's Liz Kowalczik quotes Dr. Samuels thusly:“Doctors have lost confidence in [continuing medical education] and the public has lost confidence,’’ said Samuels, who sees patients at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he heads the neurology division. “The feel... The Carlat Psychiatry Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3969058 Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:08:00 +0100 3969058 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3865249&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FX_8p44ekc58%2F By Jim HarperA Pew Internet and American Life poll out this week finds: “By a 53%-41% margin, Americans say they do not believe that the spread of affordable broadband should be a major government priority.” Non-Internet users are less likely than Internet users to say the government should prioritize spreading access to high-speed connections. The federal government spent $7.2 billion in “stimulus” money on the premise that the federal government is supposed to do this kind of thing. And the Federal Communications Commission’s “National Broadband Plan” is premised on the idea that there is supposed to be a national broadband plan. It isn’t, and there’s not. Much as I love using the Internet for work, entertainment, and social connectio... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3865249 Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:55:59 +0100 3865249 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3780570&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=38374&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FePharmaSummit%2F%7E3%2FmeRNcApK6Lg%2Fhow-do-you-reach-no-see-physicians.html In a recent article at Pharma Kinnex, they discuss how to reach doctors that are increasingly becoming no-see doctors. This promotes the need for a multi-channel approach to letting those doctors know about your products. While they will not see sales reps, there are multiple other ways to reach them, all allowing for the same voice and information to be passed concerning the drug you are letting the doctor know about. According to the article: By combining faxes, direct mail, e-communications and teledetailing along with your sales force call plan, promotional dinner meetings and conference exhibits you can greatly extend your reach and frequency. Read the full article here. (Source: ePharma Summit) ePharma Summit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3780570 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:14:00 +0100 3780570 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3780352&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FAP2Nf2gpfH4%2F By Robin Strongin. It didn’t receive much attention in the context of oil wells being capped and financial services legislation being passed, but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took a step last week that could make a profound difference for Americans who live in rural parts of the country. The FCC voted unanimously to have the federal government pay a greater share of broadband Internet costs for rural health care providers, and the commission also expressed its intent to subsidize the construction of broadband networks. Why is this important?  Over the past 25 years, according to the Center for Health Transformation, over 500 rural hospitals have shuttered their facilities.  And, while 25 percent of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, only about one in ten doctors ... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3780352 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:31:39 +0100 3780352 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3757848&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjHnuknw3Ekg%2F By Juan Carlos HidalgoBy now the name of Yoani Sánchez has become common currency for those who follow Cuba. Through the use of New Media (blog, Twitter and YouTube) Yoani has challenged the Castro regime in a way that various U.S. government-sponsored efforts have  failed to do before, earning the respect and tacit admiration of even those who continue to sympathize with the Cuban regime. As my colleague Ian Vásquez put it a few months ago, Yoani keeps speaking truth to power. Although she’s a remarkable individual, Yoani is not alone in fighting repression with technology. Other bloggers are making their voice heard, and that makes the Castro dictatorship nervous. As Yoani wrote in a paper recently published by Cato, despite the many difficulties and costs that regular Cubans face ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3757848 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:26:37 +0100 3757848 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3746991&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=38374&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FePharmaSummit%2F%7E3%2FuhijOLk28WE%2Fepharma-summit-implementing-new-and.html ePharma Summit 2010 took place this past February in Philadelphia. If you were unable to make it, we will now be presenting a weekly video series featuring all of the sessions from our event. This week we will continue with presentation from Dennis Urbaniak, VP Customer Channels & Innovation, sanofi-aventis. The session is "Implementing New and Innovative Communication Channels to Deliver Relevant Customer Messaging."Click here to watch the video. The video is under the "video" portion of the interactive player on the ePharma Summit webpage. (Source: ePharma Summit) ePharma Summit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3746991 Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:22:00 +0100 3746991 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3733057&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fshould-your-texts-be-private-at-work%2F So your company provides a pager, phone, or BlackBerry – score! Saving money on phone bills every month is a major job perk, but what if the texts you send could get you fired? Not so perky. In City of Ontario v. Quon, Jeff Quon, a California police sergeant, claimed that the city had violated his privacy when they audited the texts sent through his company phone. Though the lower courts said that he had a right to privacy in this case, the Supreme Court ruled that police officer’s texts weren’t private. The court made it clear that this ruling doesn’t extend to all cases, but the ruling indicates that companies are likely to have protection of the law when auditing employee communications. In Quon’s case, the city found that out of 456 texts sent on his work phon... Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3733057 Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:00:19 +0100 3733057 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3645058&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=38374&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FePharmaSummit%2F%7E3%2F_v1Ajz0rb8g%2Fdo-fake-online-profiles-have-place-in.html Recently, ClickZ looked at the strategy the firm Medseek has used to distinguish themselves from others in the Facebook world, a fake online profile that simulates a patient. They created a profile for Sarah Baker, who shares her information about trips to the doctor and uses of electronic applications that allow "her" to better use digital healthcare managing systems. Read the full article at ClickZ.What is your take on companies creating patients to share their services and inform the public of how to better use them? (Source: ePharma Summit) ePharma Summit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3645058 Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:02:00 +0100 3645058 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3621658&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjE7Biud9oeU%2F By Jim HarperLast week, I referred obscurely to “folks wanting to install the FCC as the Internet’s regulator,” cautioning that this same Federal Communications Commission is our national censor. A friendly correspondent points me to an article in Ars Technica about the demand for speech controls coming from the same groups that want the FCC to control the Internet’s infrastructure, groups such as Free Press, the Media Access Project, and Common Cause. Is there a parry to the charge that this is a demand for censorship? The signatories to the regulatory filing “respectfully request[] that the FCC . . . inquire into the extent and effects of hate speech in media, and explore possible non-regulatory ways to counteract its negative impacts.” The filing doe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3621658 Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:43:50 +0100 3621658 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3607485&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FNsFlrbiXSNI%2F By Jim HarperAmid charge and countercharge about who is shilling for whom in the debate over Internet regulation, Peter Suderman has the right focus in a short piece on Reason’s Hit & Run blog. The Federal Communications Commission’s Chairman is claiming that he only wants to regulate the Internet’s infrastructure, but one of his colleagues, Commissioner Michael Copps, is non-denying that he wants to censor the Internet. There may be exceptions, but it’s usually pretty safe to assume that anytime a politician or bureaucrat dodges a question while calling for “a national discussion about” the proposal at hand, what he or she really means is, “I want to indicate that I support this idea without actually going on record as supporting it.” Th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3607485 Thu, 27 May 2010 15:43:17 +0100 3607485 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3590446&cid=t_97307_129_f&fid=38601&url=http%3A%2F%2Faslci.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fgrateful.html Back in late 1998, my baby girl came down with meningitis. It was a scary, stressful time for our whole family. We knew before she left the hospital that the disease had claimed her hearing. We also knew we wanted to look into a new option for partial restoration of hearing - the cochlear implant. It was a mad scramble time for us. She still had many health issues, and we had many medical (Source: Deaf Village) Deaf Village blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3590446 Fri, 21 May 2010 22:59:00 +0100 3590446 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3569791&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4VhUqDbTis8%2F By Jim HarperThe New York Times starts its commentary on proposed Internet regulations with a clever ad hominem argument: “The Republican attack on the Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to classify broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service sounded a lot like the G.O.P. talking points on health care reform.” The GOP are being like themselves. Accordingly, Times readers should think their viewpoint is yucky. It’s not the most substantive argument you’ll come across today. There are good reasons not to encumber the Internet with regulations designed for the telephone system. Here are four: The Internet is not like the telephone system, and the FCC  doesn’t have the institutional ability to manage a changing, competitive system o... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3569791 Mon, 17 May 2010 14:25:00 +0100 3569791 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3490622&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYcRga91QNG4%2F By Jim HarperA few weeks ago, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected the FCC’s claim of authority to regulate Internet service. That was good news—and it sure didn’t create a crisis. It meant that the FCC would have to get authority from Congress if it wanted to regulate the Internet. But a little hiccup in that plan quickly emerged: Congress won’t let the FCC regulate the Internet. Bills to do that have been floating around Capitol Hill for years, and they’ve never gotten traction. So the proponents of government-controlled Internet access services have worked up an end-run around Congress: They want the FCC to try to reclassify Internet access from an unregulated “information service” to a “telecommunications service,” su... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3490622 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:45:01 +0100 3490622 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3475805&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FoTDJpcnw8oI%2F This article reviews his contributions to technology related areas of law. Outline of Article: 1. Summary. 2. Copyright Cases. 3. State Immunity in IPR Cases. 4. Patent Cases. 5. Communications Cases. 6. Internet Speech Cases. 7. Privacy Cases. 8. Other Cases. 1. Summary. Justice Stevens wrote the majority opinion in the 1984 landmark Sony Betamax case. It was a 5-4 opinion. He joined in the unanimous 2005 opinion in MGM v. Grokster, regarding vicarious copyright infringement by the distributors of peer to peer systems. He wrote a long and vigorous dissent in Eldred, the 7-2 case regarding the Copyright Term Extension Act. Justice Stevens led the fight against extending sovereign immunity to states for violation of, among other things, intellectual property laws. He dissented from the outs... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3475805 Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:35:49 +0100 3475805 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3471771&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FcUXnA_fCNyk%2F By Julian SanchezIt is more than three years since the Office of the Inspector General first brought public attention to the FBI’s systematic misuse of the National Security Letter statutes to issue fictitious “exigent letters” and obtain telecommunications records without due process. Nobody at the Bureau has been fined, or even disciplined, for  this systematic lawbreaking and the efforts to conceal it. But the bipartisan outrage expressed at a subcommittee hearing of the House Judiciary Committee this morning hints that Congress may be running out of patience—and looking for some highly-placed heads to roll. Just to refresh, Committee Chairman John Conyers summarized the main abuses in an opening statement: The IG found that more than 700 times, such information was... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3471771 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:38:11 +0100 3471771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3456669&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FnkONjUE--qc%2F By Timothy B. LeeI’m saddened to hear of the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens. Whatever you might say about his jurisprudence in other areas, one place where Justice Stevens really shined was in his defense of high-tech freedom. Justice Stevens wrote the majority opinion in some of the most important high-tech cases of the last four decades. In other cases, he wrote important (and in some cases prescient) dissents. Through it all, he was a consistent voice for freedom of expression and the freedom to innovate. His accomplishments include: Free speech: Justice Stevens wrote the majority decision in ACLU v. Reno, the decision that struck down the infamous Communications Decency Act and clearly established that the First Amendment applies to the Internet. In the 13 years since t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3456669 Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:57:19 +0100 3456669 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3443674&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4JTBrNJycos%2F By Jim HarperIn the wake of today’s ruling in the D.C. Circuit that the FCC had exceeded its authority in attempting to regulate access to the Internet, I did a number of radio interviews and a radio debate with Derek Turner of Free Press, a leading advocate of Internet regulation. The debate was a brief, fair exchange of views. I was struck, though, to hear Turner refer to the situation as a “crisis.” Sure enough, in a Free Press release, Turner says three times that the ruling creates a “crisis.”  Recall that in 2007 Comcast degraded the service it provided to a tiny group of customers using a bandwidth-hogging protocol called BitTorrent. Recall also that before the FCC acted, Comcast had stopped doing this, relenting to customer complaints, negat... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3443674 Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:29:18 +0100 3443674 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3433165&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fuf65sY_uqao%2F Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going, especially with all the layoffs. Despite the downsizing, there is movement. Here are some of the latest changes. Recognize anyone? And here is something we hope to make a regular feature. Send us a photo and we will spotlight a different person each week. This time around, we note that Michael Durand has joined Resolute Communications as managing director of its New York office. He was the founding director of Porter Novelli’s global health care practice and also served as managing director of health... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3433165 Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:20:05 +0100 3433165 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3370399&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTWFjZgHYkas%2F By Jim HarperIn a highly symbolic gesture, the Federal Communications Commission published the executive summary of its “National Broadband Plan” in one of the most opaque formats going: It’s a PDF scan of a printed document. This means you can’t cut and paste the bullet point that says: “Increase civic engagement by making government more open and transparent, creating a robust public media ecosystem and modernizing the democratic process.” Can an agency that publishes documents in inaccessible formats be relied on to deliver transparency? Did you know that this is Sunshine Week?! Let’s segue from symbolism to substance . . .  That bullet and the many that accompany it explode the FCC’s proper authority and propose an industrial policy f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3370399 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:19:41 +0100 3370399 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3370594&cid=t_97307_129_f&fid=38601&url=http%3A%2F%2Faslci.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fcan-we-help-marina.html I received a response in the comments section of my last blog from Marina. She needs advice, and I think it needs a bigger response than any one of us can handle alone.Marina writes: "I am an advocate for the Deaf in Armenia, a country where the latest "trend" or "fashion" is to have deaf children implanted. The tragedy is that the parents and the deaf community is not well informed about (Source: Deaf Village) Deaf Village blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3370594 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:28:00 +0100 3370594 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3350259&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FveEyZjNPb1s%2F By Jim HarperI’ve seen plenty of stories and gotten a fair number of calls from reporters about the national broadband plan. They generally want to get some insight from down in the weeds of the communications world. What do you think of this part? What do you think of that? But I’m keeping my eye on the ball: This is another industrial-policy boondoggle. It’s a government spending program, created by the so-called “Recovery Act,” that will distort the communications marketplace, and it comes at the cost to taxpayers of having their resources taken from them and handed out to the firms that are best equipped to lobby for government succor. I don’t care which community gets 1-gigabit connections. The money to pay for it should have been left with the Ame... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3350259 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:40:15 +0100 3350259 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3306827&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FH3xEAo5Exig%2F By Jim HarperGoogle executives who had nothing to do with the creation, uploading, review, or display of a video have been criminally convicted in Italy for its brief appearance on a Google site. The video, which showed Italian children taunting an autistic schoolmate, was promptly taken down after Italian authorities notified Google. The company assisted the authorities in locating the girl who uploaded it, according to Google’s account. (Her subsequent conviction makes it safe to assume that Google was cooperating with a criminal investigation as required by Italian law.) But four Google employees were charged with criminal defamation and failure to comply with the Italian privacy code. That can’t happen here—unless we let it happen here. This is a good time to revi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3306827 Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:40:58 +0100 3306827 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3298294&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Ffz1ayA38wus%2F By Julian SanchezLast week, I noted the strange story of a lawsuit filed by parents who allege that their son was spied on by school officials who used security software capable of remotely activating the webcams in laptops distributed to students. A bit more information on that case has since come out. The school district has issued a statement which doesn’t get into the details of the case, but avers that the remote camera capability has only ever been used in an effort to locate laptops believed to have been lost or stolen. (That apparently includes a temporary “loaner computer that, against regulations, might be taken off campus.”)  They do, however, acknowledge that they erred in failing to notify parents about this capability.  The lawyer for the student plaintiff... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3298294 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:46:14 +0100 3298294 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3262783&cid=t_97307_129_f&fid=38601&url=http%3A%2F%2Fattherimmm.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fdeaf-brain-ad-brain-no-brainer.html IS sign language acquisition in Acquired and deafened people after formative years affecting speech ? The recent re-showing on the BBC's SEE HEAR program of the deaf brain showed us,that brain areas that are usually designated for speech/language in b... (Source: Deaf Village) Deaf Village blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3262783 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:46:00 +0100 3262783 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3193698&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEHisTqKtJ6U%2F By Doug BandowThe new Justice Department Inspector General report finds that the FBI broke the law in seeking phone records.  Reports Jacob Sullum of Reason magazine: In a report (PDF) issued today, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine shows that the FBI routinely broke the law for several years by demanding telephone records through informal methods that were not authorized by statute. The abuses, which involved thousands of records, are especially striking because it is not very hard for the FBI to obtain this information legally. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) allows the bureau to demand records from phone companies through a “national security letter” (NSL) signed by the director or an official he designates. Under FBI policy, any special agent... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3193698 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:24:34 +0100 3193698 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3178756&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FLsQFU75mrPE%2F By Julian SanchezPerhaps he’s too demure to say “I told you so” himself, but events are bearing out the concerns about net neutrality and regulatory capture that  Tim Lee expressed in his excellent Cato paper “The Durable Internet.” The content industry is lobbying not just to ensure that neutrality rules permit filtering of Internet traffic by ISPs to block copyrighted material, but wants the FCC to positively encourage it.  As a brief from the Motion Picture Association of America suggests: In fact, if the Commission wants to see a meaningful and long-term reduction in the amount of bandwidth consumed by illegal content, it should foster an environment in which innovation itself is able to flourish and new tools are not only permitted, but encouraged, to d... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3178756 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:39:40 +0100 3178756 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3159973&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fpharma-marketing-vs-healthcare.html I was interviewed by phone this weekend about the reputations of global pharmaceutical companies. The interview was sponsored by a company that is trying to remake its image in the US market. I was asked to rate several companies on a number of attributes that impact their reputations. These attributes included how each company promoted access to its medicines (eg, patient assistance programs), its ethics, transparency, innovation, and how well it listened to patient needs.At one point I was asked my opinion about a tag line that the sponsor company was testing. It included the phrase "healthcare company" as in "A global healthcare company...yadda, yadda, yadda."Whenever someone refers to a pharmaceutical company as a "healthcare company" the hairs on the back of my neck (where I still hav... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3159973 Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:50:00 +0100 3159973 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3075769&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=38374&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FePharmaSummit%2F%7E3%2Fbb-m5x3Yvng%2Fhear-from-experts-about-fdas-recent.html (Source: ePharma Summit) ePharma Summit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3075769 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:23:00 +0100 3075769 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044684&cid=t_97307_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F01%2Fswine-flu-vaccination-social-care-communications-toolkit%2F Title: Swine flu vaccination: social care communications toolkit Skinny: Materials to support local communication teams in communicating the value of having the swine flu vaccination. The toolkit consists of a leaflet which could be used to brief staff and which responds to the questions frontline staff are asking about the vaccines, press adverts and posters – some of which have space available for local messages. Publisher: DH Published: 12/11/2009 Materials: Low-resolution leaflet: image of social care worker with child High-resolution leaflet: image of social care worker with child Low-resolution leaflet: image of social care worker with older person High-resolution leaflet: image of social care worker with older person Low-resolution poster: image of social care worker with ... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044684 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:53:53 +0100 3044684 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3012363&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fzbr6LhwOBIQ%2F The American Consumer Institute has released a collection of essays addressing the likely consequences of ”‘Net Neutrality” regulation for investment in broadband and for consumer welfare. These are important things to consider, in case it needs saying. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3012363 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:22:55 +0100 3012363 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3004091&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=38374&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FePharmaSummit%2F%7E3%2FpsDmtedTMzI%2Fweb-seminar-insights-and-perspectives.html (Source: ePharma Summit) ePharma Summit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3004091 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:26:00 +0100 3004091 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2934652&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FNVdsezqzPHA%2F Jeff Eisenach and Adam Thierer have a great essay in The American honoring the 50th anniversary of Ronald Coase’s article “The Federal Communications Commission.” It’s timely given the FCC’s proposal to establish public utility-style regulation of the Internet under the banner “net neutrality,” and it’s a good general warning to Neo-Progressives who “see market failure as the source of most problems, and government as the centerpiece of most solutions.” (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2934652 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:22:23 +0100 2934652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2927290&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJFugYms2TSU%2F Some people have labored under the impression that “net neutrality” regulation was about the government stepping in to ensure that large corporations would not control the Internet. Now that the issue is truly joined, it is clear (as exhibited in this Wall Street Journal story) that the debate is about one set of corporate interests battling another set of corporate interests about the Internet, each seeking to protect or strengthen its business model. The FCC is surfing the debate pursuing a greater role for itself, meaning more budget and power. Tim Lee’s paper, The Durable Internet, dispels the idea that owners of Internet infrastructure can actually control the Internet. The preferred approach to “net neutrality” is to let Internet users decide what they w... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2927290 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:27:51 +0100 2927290 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2923238&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FoSkodqtmGXU%2F In an effort to achieve “network neutrality” online, the FCC is starting to write new regulations for Internet providers.  Reuters reports: U.S. communications regulators voted unanimously Thursday to support an open Internet rule that would prevent telecom network operators from barring or blocking content based on the revenue it generates. The proposed rule now goes to the public for comment until Jan. 14, after which the Federal Communications Commissions will review the feedback and possibly seek more comment. A final rule is not expected until the spring of next year. Cato Director of Information Policy Studies Jim Harper appeared on Fox News this week to discuss the FCC decision. “This is governmental tinkering with a market place that is working really well and gr... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2923238 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:33:03 +0100 2923238 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2865641&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FqKJtIi6Cw_w%2F Lovers of free speech should feel their stomachs turn when they look at the actions of the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission these days. Not that they took a sharp turn with the Obama administration, or with the chairmanships of Jon Leibowitz or Jules Genachowski. These are run-of-the-mill bureaucracies, constantly reaching for new powers, nevermind even constitutional limits on the federal government’s authority. Item 1: Blogger, You’re an Advertiser Now Via the L.A. Times blog, the FTC issued a guidance document yesterday requiring bloggers who write testimonials about products to disclose large gifts or payments, or they will run afoul of the FTC’s regulations on advertising. Is that the right thing to do? Yep. Is that an appropriate thing to r... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2865641 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:20:13 +0100 2865641 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2820200&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FCji2_WdGivM%2F Julian Sanchez has already done a fine job of assessing FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s speech announcing his plan for federal regulation of the Internet. There was nothing really new in it. No substantial problems justifying regulation have emerged, and—Genachowski’s claims to modest aims aside—any ‘net neutrality regulation is likely to be a substantive morass. Says Julian: [I]t absolutely reeks of the sort of ad hoc ‘I know it when I see it’ standard that leaves telecoms wondering whether some innovative practice will bring down the Wrath of Comms only after resources have been sunk into rolling it out.” If the FCC goes ahead with regulating the Internet, the public will get a good look at what closed systems are really like. The FCC... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2820200 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:06:23 +0100 2820200 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2699767&cid=t_97307_129_f&fid=38601&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmilesmeetsworld.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Flittle-daycare-goes-long-way.html Summer has been great. I love not working and having time to be with Miles, having some time to myself and paying attention to the smaller things.Miles started his Early Start program here in Santa Clara County. We were given the choice of the audito... (Source: Deaf Village) Deaf Village blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2699767 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:58:00 +0100 2699767 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2671094&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=38374&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FePharmaSummit%2F%7E3%2FJl3Mf2vW2Yw%2Fonline-hospital-ratings.html (Source: ePharma Summit) ePharma Summit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2671094 Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:38:00 +0100 2671094 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2622035&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fhealth-communications-creative-complex.html "Health Communicators" have a tough job that must be "carefully nurtured," says Fard Johnmar of Envision Solutions. Johnmar has just pre-launched his "Path of the Blue Eye" project to help nurture health communicators via a collaborative community.Johnmar decided to launch (er, I mean, pre-launch) the project "a bit differently" using a super hero comic strip featuring Specto Laurus who protects the "cverse" - the creative universe - which is the source of creativity and inspiration for health communicators. The villain is Davdos James, erstwhile friend of Specto, now an agent of the "enemy" who "lives only to suck the cverse dry."[I wonder who, in the "reality universe" or "rverse," Johnmar has in mind as the enemy? This is just one of the questions I will ask him in an upcoming Pharma Ma... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2622035 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:33:00 +0100 2622035 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2593165&cid=t_97307_129_f&fid=38601&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpierced-eardrum.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fless-is-more-re-simultaneous.html This study proves the obvious: that using a half langu... (Source: Deaf Village) Deaf Village blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2593165 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:08:00 +0100 2593165 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2588437&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2FDBpau8ae-dE%2Fgoing_for_broke_with_the_path.html A few months ago, I mentioned an initiative that I've been working on that's been stretching me to the limit and beyond.  Today, I'm pleased to announce that the Path of the Blue Eye project has been officially launched. The goal of this initiative is to bring people working in health marketing communications together.  I'm trying to help to break down the silos that exist between industry sub-segments (e.g., PR, advertising, digital marketing) and geographic regions. I've decided to launch the project a bit differently.  Once you go to the Website you'll understand what I mean. Some may react negatively to the approach, while others will think it's interesting. Whatever your reaction, know that  I believe so strongly in what I'm doing th... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2588437 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:36:33 +0100 2588437 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570940&cid=t_97307_129_f&fid=38601&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdietzfam06.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fthis-weeks-update.html This week has been pretty busy, filled with both our normal weekly activities and some extra stuff. We had our normal weekly walk to the library  and went to the zoo one day. Johnny loves the zoo and the library so much. Every time we ask him, in sign... (Source: Deaf Village) Deaf Village blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570940 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:26:00 +0100 2570940 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2513130&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F06%2F17%2Fignore-everybody%2F This post is very much off topic, so feel free to skip it.  However, if you stick around, you might benefit from a very useful resource. Early this year, I came across a very powerful manifesto written by Hugh MacLeod.  MacLeod produces those Gaping Void cartoons you seen all over the blogosphere, and perhaps in real life.  In the manifesto MacLeod wrote about what it takes to be truly creative: a lot of hard work and fear.  I’ve turned to this manifesto many times over the past six months.  Whenever I doubt myself or what I’m doing, I reread key passages.  It helps me stay grounded. So, when I heard that MacLeod was writing a book based on the manifesto, my ears perked up.  Now, I wasn’t (and am still not) sure whether I’ll buy the book, as I’m not sure if it will be sign... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2513130 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:11:32 +0100 2513130 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473207&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGYMhSY3Fe08%2F Who’s the top dog in American business these days? Washington, says the Washington Post: That’s one of the main themes of this week’s Capital Connection conference put on by the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association. . . . This time, policy wonks and government insiders will also be there. Reed E. Hundt, former Federal Communications Commission chairman, and Tommy G. Thompson, former Health and Human Services secretary, will be speaking, as will VentureBeat blog author Matt Marshall and GigaOm author Om Malik, two well-known technology bloggers. Washington hasn’t been a frequent stop for them in the past. It’s just one more sign of the region’s growing clout in the business and technology world. This is where stimulus dollars are doled out, where the economic... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473207 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:27:15 +0100 2473207 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2453173&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2FxiTdmrnJ-3Y%2Fa_counterproposal_four_digital.html   This morning, I came across a tweet by Jonathan Richman, who writes the blog Dose of Digital, focusing on "10 digital marketing ideas pharmaceutical companies will never try (but should).”  Richman said that he created the list because he has “grown bored with all the debates on why these industries should use social media.”As I looked through his list, I kept wanting to him really get into a discussion about social strategies rather than tactics.  I wanted to see him challenge pharma use these tools to achieve concrete business objectives such as:-Improving corporate or brand reputation-Gaining greater competitive insights-Forging deeper and more fruitful customer relationships -Powering and improving research and development effortsIn my mind,... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2453173 Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:42:51 +0100 2453173 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2424488&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F05%2F20%2Fdespite-iom-warning-medical-errors-may-have-killed-1-million-plus-in-past-decade%2F In a scathing report, Consumers Union estimates that more than 1 million people have died over the last decade due to preventable medical harm.  The newly released report, To Err is Human — To Delay is Deadly,” suggests that since the Institute of Medicine’s influential 1999 report on medical errors, “98,000 people die each year needlessly because of preventable medical harm, including health care-acquired infections. Ten years after To Err is Human, we have no national entity comprehensively tracking patient safety events or progress.” While some hospitals have made great strides in the effort to reduce medical errors and the U.S. government has taken steps to limit reimbursement for preventable medical events, the nation still has a long way to go.  Consum... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2424488 Wed, 20 May 2009 19:24:34 +0100 2424488 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2406143&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2FjxXTWJD0FDM%2Funderstanding_the_us_african_m.html  Recently, the U.S. African Chamber of Commerce released an important and groundbreaking study examining the U.S. African population.  This group, which sees itself as distinctly African and different from the African American population represents $50 billion in largely untapped purchasing power.  Those intersted in learning more about this growing market, should take time to read this important study.  Click here to access it.    (Source: HealthCareVox) HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2406143 Thu, 14 May 2009 18:02:05 +0100 2406143 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2386830&cid=t_97307_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7B_duwBBslE%2F On Sunday’s Meet the Press, David Gregory pressed a trio of federal officials about how comments on swine flu like Vice President Biden’s have caused overreactions across the country, such as the diversion of a plane because a passenger had flu-like symptoms, the cancellation of a rap concert, and a variety of other dislocations in American life. Acting director of the Centers for Disease Control Dr. Richard Besser said: Well, y’know, everybody is going to deal with their concerns in different ways, and that’s the nature of people. What we can do is try and tell them what the risks are - what do we know - share information as we have it, and continue to hit the messages of those things that can be really effective. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebeli... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2386830 Mon, 04 May 2009 11:36:51 +0100 2386830 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2341813&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F04%2F17%2Ffda-warning-letters-dazed-confused%2F For many years, pharmaceutical companies and advertising agencies have been producing text advertisements that link to Websites promoting medications.  Generally, advertisers used what what was dubbed the “one click rule” - i.e., if information about the risks associated with a medication was included via a hyperlink, they would be fulfilling requirements to post information about prescription medication side effects. No more.  Recently, the FDA issued 14 warning letters to various pharmaceutical companies demanding that they start including risk information in text advertisements.  According to the New York Times: “When the Food and Drug Administration sent letters to 14 major pharmaceutical companies late last month, the warning was strong. The companies’ search ad... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2341813 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:18:39 +0100 2341813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2341814&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F04%2F08%2Fobesity-foes-use-911-to-tout-documentary-brilliant-or-distasteful%2F Last week, on April 1 of all days, I received an e-mail from the Disinformation Company, a television, book and film production company about a new film it is releasing, titled: “Killer at Large.”  I get lots of pitches in my e-mail inbox, and generally ignore them, but this one caught my eye.  It seems that the producers of the documentary are arguing that obesity is as serious as terrorism.  From the release: “When asked what the most pressing issue is in America today, former Surgeon General Richard Carmona responds: ‘Obesity, because obesity is a terror within. It is destroying our society from within and unless we do something about it, the magnitude of the dilemma will dwarf 9/11 or any other terrorist event that you can point out to me.’” Clearly, using the terrorism ... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2341814 Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:38:45 +0100 2341814 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2300908&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F04%2F01%2Ffda-issues-draft-guidance-on-social-media-not-today%2F Today, my e-mail box has been burning up with astounding news from the FDA regarding social media marketing.  In a press release, which is starting to be widely distributed online, the FDA is said to be developing draft guidance on social media marketing! First, my mouth fell open in shock.  Then I remembered what day today is, April 1.  Here’s the “release”: “New FDA Draft Guidance Aims to Improve Health Information Obtained via ‘Social Media’ Websites The Food and Drug Administration today issued a draft guidance document designed to improve communications to consumers and health care practitioners about health conditions and medical products that they obtain on ’social media’ Websites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and online bulletin boards. The guidance ... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2300908 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:34:31 +0100 2300908 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2314623&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=36670&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmsdn%2Fhealthblog%2F%7E3%2FkKWb1kz1Y0s%2Fspecial-webcast-unified-communications-in-health.aspx Regular HealthBlog readers know that I am a big fan of unified communications technology and how it can be used in healthcare to improve clinical workflow, caregiver collaboration, patient safety, care quality, and satisfaction.  The technology has continued to mature since I first started sharing ideas on how it can be used in health, and today many hospitals, clinics, home care agencies, and other kinds of organizations are applying it in their enterprises. On April 2nd, I will participate in a special web cast featuring research conducted by IDC on unified communications in healthcare.  During the program, IDC Program Director, Marc Holland, and I will discuss: Factors driving growth in demand for unified communications among  healthcare provider organizations Current... HealthBlog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2314623 Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:40:04 +0100 2314623 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2300910&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F03%2F25%2Fmobile-campaign-to-watch-partnership-for-a-drug-free-america%2F I’m always on the look-out for interesting marketing campaigns using digital technology, especially mobile phones. This is why I was happy to come across a new mobile campaign launched by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America designed to augment the impact of their teen and parent-targeted anti-drug campaign.  According to Media Post: “The pro bono effort uses banner ads from two ongoing interactive efforts–the teen-oriented “Check Yourself” and the parent-aimed “Time to Talk”–reformatted to work on mobile platforms. Once they are at the mobile WAP sites, parents can sign up to receive their first “talk tip” via text message, and teens can use the Check Yourself site to examine their relationship with drugs and alcohol and share the si... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2300910 Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:48:33 +0100 2300910 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2278273&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F03%2F18%2Fviral-marketing-is-dead-long-live-spreadable-media%2F I was turned on to a lengthy eight-part blog post focusing on the death of “viral marketing” by my friend and fellow Amherst grad, Mike Arauz from the folks at MIT.  He’s written a response/reaction to the posts by Henry Jenkins and his colleagues that’s well worth your time.  And, when you have about an hour to spare, read (and cogitate on) the original series by Jenkins. (Source: Envisioning 2.0) Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2278273 Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:19:28 +0100 2278273 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2278278&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2FLoQ0rVRjPLA%2Flisten_to_fdas_ddmac_discuss_p.html UPDATE:  Okay, I just finished listening to the podcast.  It was certainly informative, but left me with a few critical questions. Dr. Jean Ah Kang, the person Senak interviewed, was helpful because she clarified a few points: • It’s About Content, Not Context: She said that enforcement is about the message (or content), not the medium.  She mentioned the Shire YouTube video enforcement action and noted that it was all about fair balance and efficacy claims and not the fact it was posted to YouTube. •  We Focus On Well-Established Regulatory Principles: Regardless of the communications channel or technology, DDMAC continues to focus on the core regulatory principles of fair balance and accuracy that govern all pharma marketing efforts• It’s Al... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2278278 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:41:02 +0100 2278278 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2260779&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F03%2F11%2Fbig-brother-is-watching-your-smart-phone%2F Devices like the iPhone are taking the world by storm and igniting the once-moribund mobile Internet market.  Lots of people are discovering the joys of being able to access the Internet from anywhere. As exciting as these developments are, there are some signs that marketers may be moving quickly to take advantage of the mobile phone’s rich capabilities, but paying less attention to privacy concerns.  According to an article published in today’s New York Times: “Advertisers are eager to use [behavioral and psychographic] information for much more specific targeting . . . An advertising system could know, for instance, that someone is 27 years old, male, a New England Patriots fan (which NFL.com can track), plays Blackjack, travels frequently between Boston and New York on weekdays... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2260779 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:49:46 +0100 2260779 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2240891&cid=t_97307_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2F05%2Flonely-people-find-no-comfort-in-chatting-with-online-strangers%2F A new study published in CyberPsychology & Behavior suggests that college students who were primed to imagine lonely feelings didn’t find any relief from their loneliness when chatting with strangers online. Subjects in the study who had high trait loneliness found some relief from talking to strangers face-to-face, but their loneliness increased after texting with strangers online. People with low trait loneliness experienced no significant difference between the two conditions (talking with others face to face or online). Trait loneliness refers to when a person fails to establish satisfactory personal relationships with others for two or more consecutive years, reflecting problems in relating to other people. Trait loneliness (also known as chronic loneliness) appears to be ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2240891 Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:19:47 +0100 2240891 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2216999&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F02%2F25%2Fmedpedia-debate-reignites-war-over-who-is-most-qualified-to-develop-vet-medical-information%2F Last week, a new medical wiki, Medpedia, received significant attention when it announced that several major medical institutions, including Harvard Medical School, were partnering with the startup.  Mark Senak who writes at Eye on FDA, suggested that “when given a choice of learning about the drug from (1) the manufacturer or (2) an objective third party source representing the finest medical schools in the country, patients and physicians are likely to gravitate to the objective resource.”  He also believes that “the influence of Medpedia on prescribers . . . and patients stands to be quite large.” While Medpedia allows anyone to contribute information, it only gives physicians or PhDs the ability to serve as editors.  These highly credentialed individuals will have the final ... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2216999 Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:23:07 +0100 2216999 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2200916&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2FERGVwR8hz7o%2Fthe_twitter_tsunami_hits_the_h.html Historically, the health care industry has been slow to embrace social technology.  However, it seems that Twitter, the fast-growing microblogging platform, is an exception to this rule.  Over the past few months, hospitals, consultants, managed care companies and even (gasp) pharmaceutical companies have been jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. I’ve been on Twitter for a number of months now (I’m at @fardj) and it’s been amazing to watch companies that were leery of blogs, social networks and online forums embrace the platform.  Jim Edwards who now writes at BNET, wrote an interesting post yesterday highlighting how a number of pharma companies have joined the Twittersphere.  He writes: “AstraZeneca, Novartis, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Boehringer... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2200916 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:08:10 +0100 2200916 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2183114&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F02%2F12%2Fare-pharmaceutical-companies-responsible-for-third-party-social-media-content-perhaps-not%2F This week, the New York Times and other outlets reported that Bayer has taken the rare step of producing and distributing corrective advertising for its Yaz brand name birth control medication.  Yaz is indicated for the prevention of pregnancy, management of moderate acne and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.  Bayer produced an advertisement that the FDA requested be removed because viewers could interpret it to mean that Yaz helps women remedy a larger array of acne symptoms and can help treat PMS. The Times reported that the FDA and a group of states attorney generals forced Bayer to spend $20 million to air a series of commercials correcting the record and stating that the company’s previous advertisements were “unclear.” John Mack who writes the Pharma Marketing Blog wondered if... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2183114 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:35:36 +0100 2183114 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2182357&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Fclinicalit.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F02%2Farmy-adds-speech-recognition-users.html Nuance Communications today announced that the U.S. Army Medical Department recently purchased an additional 10,000 licenses for Dragon Medical speech recognition software. The purchase brings the number of Army medical licenses to more than 90,000.Nuance says the software will be integrated with the AHLTA EHR system to help physicians document patient encounters. (Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog) Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2182357 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:26:00 +0100 2182357 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2200917&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2FkSpRGfZVGdo%2Fevent_could_provide_interestin.html Yesterday, at the ePharma Summit, I spoke on a panel with Marc Monseau of Johnson & Johnson and Fabio Gratton of Ignite Health about how drug firms can develop policies and procedures for their social media marketing efforts.  It was an interesting session and we received lots of good questions from the audience, including the usual ones about navigating regulatory/legal hurdles. Given this, it’s very interesting that Waggener Edstrom is holding an event on February 24 titled "Healthcare Communications in the Digital World: Mitigating the Risks in a Highly Regulated Environment."  The event will feature Sanjay J. Koyani, Director of Web Communications at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.I’m not sure if Koyani will be revealing a lot of specifics abo... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2200917 Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:49:02 +0100 2200917 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2163522&cid=t_97307_125_f&fid=34820&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dentalblogs.com%2Farchives%2Fadministrator%2Fmaking-it-easy-for-patients-to-say-yes%2F March 19, 2009April 17, 2009June 4, 2009September 17, 2009October 30, 2009A well respected Great Mind, Dr. Paul Homoly of Homoly Communications Institute, is presenting a seminar that could help you increase your bottom line.  Making it Easy for Patients to Say “Yes” is a seminar in which Dr. Homoly provides practical information that will help you convert treatment plans into working cases. He’ll be in Scottsdale, AZ; Ann Arbor, MI; Chicago, IL; Las Vegas, NV; and Charlotte, NC this year. Later this month, DentalBlogs will publish an exclusive interview with Dr. Homoly, so stay tuned for that exciting post. If you’d like to know more about Dr. Homoly and his upcoming speaking engagements, visit www.PaulHomoly.com. (Source: dental blog for dentists about dentistry) dental blog for dentists about dentistry blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2163522 Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:46:30 +0100 2163522 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2153086&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F02%2F02%2Fas-peanut-butter-crisis-escalates-government-turns-to-social-media-to-get-the-word-out%2F With increasing numbers of manufacturers and retailers recalling peanut-containing products such as peanut butter daily, it is very difficult for consumers to figure out what foods to avoid and how the government is responding.  Now, the CDC and its sister agency the FDA, have turned to social media to help quickly disseminate information about the various recalls. For example, tomorrow, the CDC will be holding a Webinar specifically for bloggers designed to “give blog writers the chance to speak with FDA and CDC subject matter experts about the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak efforts and future resources for bloggers during food safety incidents.”  This is an important step, as bloggers often spread the word about health news items and have a broader reach (via social network and se... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2153086 Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:31:26 +0100 2153086 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2147783&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F01%2F30%2Flearn-the-art-of-communicating-with-people-using-social-networks-for-health-wellness%2F As previously discussed on this blog, yesterday my firm Envision Solutions released an extensive report and produced an in-depth Webinar focusing on health social network communications.  The session and report (Achieving Openness: The Art Of Listening, Learning & Communicating With People Using Social Networks For Health & Wellness ) are now available for download. This extensive (60 + page) free publication features: – Information about four major communications strategies health organizations are currently using to engage with social networkers. – New data that will help health industry executives predict the impact of two-way dialogue with social network users. I want to take a moment to thank Inspire, CDC, TNS Media Intelligence Cymfony, Sermo, PatientsLikeMe and ... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2147783 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:58:44 +0100 2147783 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2131575&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2FiRsNOJILwzQ%2Fphysician_social_networks_popu.html Earlier this week, Manhattan Research published an interesting study looking at how many physicians are using online social networks like Sermo and Medscape’s Physician Connect.  According to the research firm’s press release about the study “60% of physicians [are] already using or interested in using physician online communities.”  In addition, the company reports that active or interested physician social networkers tend to prescribe more drugs. On the surface, this study would appear to give cheer to pharmaceutical marketers interested in communicating with physicians via social networks.  Is there something about social networks that encourages doctors to prescribe more medicines?  Pharmaceutical Executive seems to think so.  The public... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2131575 Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:15:05 +0100 2131575 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2110827&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F-0ED6BK3TM8%2Fwhy_measuring_social_media_is.html The latest edition of my firm’s e-newsletter, Envisioning, features an article focusing on social media measurement and addressees the question of whether it is a fool’s errand. Although some have argued that it is impossible to measure the impact of social media, I am not one of them.  While social media marketing communications is  young field, we must do what we can to prove that engaging in it yields some benefit. This is why I spent some time earlier this week participating in a Webinar produced by the Society for Word of Mouth Marketing focusing on effective social media measurement.  Marketer and author Dave Evans led a session where he outlined techniques marketers can use to determine the ROI of their efforts.  At the risk of oversimplifying his tal... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2110827 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:21:01 +0100 2110827 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2090182&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2009%2F01%2F08%2Fjoin-me-for-a-special-webinar-on-communicating-with-people-using-social-networks-for-health%2F Late last year, BusinessWeek published a major article focusing on how social networks are helping patients partner with health professionals more effectively.  It outlined how sites like PatientsLikeMe are improving medical care and accelerating research.  Other Web properties, such as Sermo and the drug safety online community iGuard, have been receiving significant attention as well. As these social networks have grown in popularity, corporations, non-profit groups and government agencies in the health industry have begun to use them to communicate with and educate their customers and other stakeholders.  Despite this, the knowledge gained by these organizations has not yet been organized and shared with a wide audience. This is why I am pleased to announce that I will be hosting a W... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2090182 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:43:13 +0100 2090182 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2011545&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2008%2F12%2F03%2Fas-bloom-fades-from-dtc-advertising%25e2%2580%2599s-rose-pharma-chief-takes-a-moment-to-blast-it%2F Over the past few years, attacks on pharmaceutical industry direct to consumer (DTC) advertising have steadily increased.  Once critics blasted it for increasing sales of medications that have limited usefulness.  Today, these individuals have been joined by some within and without the industry who have suggested that it is not a very effective marketing tactic. I am very used to seeing scathing critiques of DTC advertising, but I must admit I was a little shocked when I learned that the CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals, William Burns, said it was the “single worst decision for the industry.”  I have not been able to locate Burns’ full remarks, but his statement made me wonder whether: o    Roche is going to discontinue its DTC advertising:  Perhaps not as commercials featuring Sa... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2011545 Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:14:13 +0100 2011545 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1961213&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2008%2F11%2F14%2Fhealth-obstacle%2F Today, the New York Times published a very interesting essay focusing on the role race plays in medicine.  Rather than highlighting disparities in clinical outcomes between different racial groups, the article focused on the biases and assumptions faced by physicians of color.  Interestingly, it also referenced how prejudice can influence how minority physicians treat patients of other races. The election of Barack Obama has further ignited the country’s ongoing conversation about race.  While a major racial barrier has fallen, we would all do well to remember that the road to a more perfect union remains long and hard in many other areas – especially health. For more on this topic, please see my series on race and medicine. (Source: Envisioning 2.0) Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1961213 Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:23:24 +0100 1961213 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1948537&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=38117&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.engageinhealth.com%2F2008%2F11%2Flook_after_your_teeth_if_you_c_1.html It feels fair to say most people don’t like going to the dentist. Yet, for those of us in the UK that do choose to engage with this aspect of our health by having regular check-ups, it is not always possible to do so. Earlier this year, a Citizen’s Advice poll suggested a lack of access has prevented one in six people from seeing an NHS dentist for almost two years. However, as we are now living longer, managing our dental (and overall) health throughout our lives is more important than ever. Furthermore, in the older population, a UK report last week showed that more than a third of over 75s fail to have regular check-ups. This is particularly significant as older people produce less saliva meaning the decay process is quicker and tooth decay and pain can lead to poor nutrition in t... The Health Engagement Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1948537 Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:07:54 +0100 1948537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1868652&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F417002410%2Fshire_warning_letter_is_about.html Over the past few days, much digital ink has been spilled over the warning letter Shire recently received for a promotional video that was uploaded to YouTube.  According to Pharmaceutical Executive and other sources, FDA told Shire that the company had overstated a series of claims made by celebrity spokesperson Ty Pennington in a company video. I have received a number of questions about this event over the past few days.  My response has been this: the FDA warning letter focused on the content of the advertisement rather than the context.  While it is certainly interesting that FDA asked Shire to withdraw a YouTube video, the medium is less important to the agency than the message.  Shire was warned because it produced materials that did not contain adequate fair bal... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1868652 Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:56:40 +0100 1868652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1851215&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F409211307%2F How’s this for common sense? Seeking to hone its tarnished image after getting beaten up for tainted food and drug safety, the FDA decided to hire a contractor for a public relations campaign that would “create and foster a lasting positive public image of the agency for the American public,” according to The Washington Post. But a competition for the $300,000 contract was not held for the lowest bid, which is required by government policy. Instead, FDA officials came up with a plan to ensure the work would go to a Washington DC public relations firm with ties to the FDA official arranging the deal, the paper writes. The plan used a circuitous route around the standard government contracting procedures. The contract was awarded in July to Alaska Newspapers, a firm owned... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1851215 Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:31:11 +0100 1851215 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1764217&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2008%2F09%2F04%2Fgov-sarah-palin-discussed-in-latest-health-wonk-review%2F The latest edition of the Health Wonk Review is up.  It has some interesting takes on a number of current health policy-related issues.  However, what I found most interesting was bloggers’ analysis of Gov. Sarah Palin’s record on health care.  Interesting reading for anyone seeking to get smart on Sen. John McCain’s VP pick. (Source: Envisioning 2.0) Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1764217 Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:12:00 +0100 1764217 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1760164&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2008%2F09%2F03%2Fthe-state-of-the-health-blogosphere%2F Today my firm Envision Solutions released a new report that provides the most detailed picture to date of the state of health blogosphere.  The folks at The Health Care Blog were kind enough to publish a guest post I wrote about the publication.  Please click here to view it and learn more about the evolving health blogosphere. (Source: Envisioning 2.0) Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1760164 Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:30:23 +0100 1760164 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1742934&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2008%2F08%2F29%2Funbranded-advertising-it%25e2%2580%2599s-not-about-downplaying-side-effects%2F Today, the Wall Street Journal has an article focusing on how unbranded advertising (or commercials that don’t mention a specific product) is gaining traction. The Journal writes: “Unbranded . . . advertising is gaining popularity among drugmakers, which in recent months have come under renewed fire from lawmakers for the ways in which they promote drugs directly to consumers.” The Journal also suggests that companies are using this type of advertising in order to avoid talking about the side effects associated with their medications. The Journal’s focus on unbranded marketing is certainly interesting, but this strategy has always been popular — at least with some drug firms. Pharmaceutical companies (especially in non-US markets) regularly use this type of advertising to edu... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1742934 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:39:10 +0100 1742934 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1739636&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=36670&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fmsdn%2Fhealthblog%2F%7E5%2F332117283%2FTransforming%2520Medical%2520Data%2520Into%2520Knowledge%2520for%2520Better%2520Health.wma If you want to go straight to the really sexy stuff, scroll toward the bottom of this entry and see the photos and video of Microsoft Surface in Health.  If you want a more complete view of the day's proceedings, read on. Yesterday ended with a very nice cocktail reception held at the Microsoft Conference Center; the site for our annual Microsoft Healthcare Users Group meeting in Redmond.  I always look forward to the social events around our conference as an opportunity to catch up with good friends and business associates from around the country and the world. Turning Health Data into Knowledge Today kicked off with an opening keynote by Steve Shihadeh (left in the photo) VP of Sales and Marketing for our Health Solutions Group.  Steve spoke on "The Transformative Power of... HealthBlog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1739636 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:49:00 +0100 1739636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1668856&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=36670&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fmsdn%2Fhealthblog%2F%7E5%2F350992790%2FTechForum2008RedmondBrochure.pdf Would you like to get the latest scoop on HealthVault and Microsoft Amalga?  How about a sneak peek at future health solutions using Microsoft Surface?  Would you like to see how some of the world's leading healthcare organizations are improving workflow collaboration and delighting patients with Microsoft Unified Communications?  Or how about an opportunity to see a clinical user interface built with Microsoft Silverlight?  Would you like to see how Microsoft Dynamics CRM can improve patient loyalty and satisfaction?   Would you like to visit the Microsoft campus in Redmond and meet the executives who are leading our health initiatives around the world?  Would you like to tour the Microsoft Home of the future?  If so, this is your golden ticket.   ... HealthBlog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1668856 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:45:50 +0100 1668856 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1606123&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F331890376%2Fmcneil_pediatrics_seeds_unbran.html Today, yet another Johnson & Johnson affiliated company has begun to use social technologies to communicate about health.*  McNeil Pediatrics, a division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, recently launched a group on Facebook, ADHD Moms.  McNeil bills ADHD moms as a “unique online destination where mothers of children with ADHD can hear directly from other moms about their experiences raising children with this condition.”  What’s most interesting about this effort is that the social component of the initiative is muted – which is unsurprising for a pharmaceutical company.  At least initially, it looks like the Facebook page will feature one-way dialogue from caregivers and health experts to the Facebook community.  Unlike most Fa... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1606123 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:32:56 +0100 1606123 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1543921&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F318910550%2Fon_alli_social_media_marketing.html Much has been made lately about the poor sales of GlaxoSmithKline’s over the counter (OTC) weight loss medication Alli.  The company famously relaunched a low-dose OTC version of its prescription medication Xenical with a snazzy advertising campaign and a branded blog and message board.  What surprised many people is that the company freely acknowledged the drug’s messy side effects on the Alli blog.  GSK’s hope was that it could get people to make a commitment to changing their dietary habits in order to lose weight and avoid an “oops” moment.  Recently, it has become clear that Alli is not doing as well as analysts expected.  The problem may be the company’s marketing message.  Those willing to make lifestyle modifications... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1543921 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:41:55 +0100 1543921 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1446417&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F291016227%2Fthe_fragmenting_social_network.html The social network universe is fragmenting – and has been for a long time. Clearly, MySpace and Facebook will continue to receive lots of attention from the mainstream media, bloggers and ordinary Americans.  However, niche social networks (including lots in health) have been popping up all over the place.  Why?  There are two reasons:1.    New tools are helping people who do not have lots of technical skills to develop social networks. Ning has been the poster child for do it yourself social networking. Lots of people are using Ning-based social networks. A few sites are doing quite well.  For example, TuDiabetes.com, a social network for diabetics, is growing rapidly. 2.    In health, social networks are recognizing they must specia... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1446417 Thu, 15 May 2008 16:46:46 +0100 1446417 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1416444&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F282053758%2F Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going, especially with all the layoffs being announced each month. Despite downsizing, there is movement. Here are some of the latest changes. Recognize anyone? AssureRx hired Al Lucas as vp of sales and marketing; Oragenics added Marc Siegel and Kevin Sills to its board; Noven Pharmaceuticals hired Peter Brandt as ceo and president; Hyperion Therapeutics hired Bruce Scharschmidt as chief medical officer; Cephalon hired Jerry Pappert as exec vp and general counsel; MedThink Communications hired Steve Palmisan... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1416444 Fri, 02 May 2008 11:42:29 +0100 1416444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1399355&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2008%2F04%2F25%2Ffacebook-based-contest-engages-youth-showcases-power-of-social-networks-to-%25e2%2580%259cseed-grow%25e2%2580%259d-online-communities%2F Since early this year, Abbott Laboratories and the PR firm Fleishman Hilliard have been producing a contest designed to encourage young people to enter the clinical laboratory profession.  According to Abbott, the program, Labs Are Vital, was a smashing success.  It reached more than 1.8 million students interested in the sciences. Students participating in the contests were asked to develop videos, T-shirts and advertisements encouraging people to start a career in laboratory medicine.  A key part of the programs’ success was the fact that Fleishman Hilliard was heavily engaged with the Facebook community surrounding the contest.  With a few exceptions, the contest sponsors were very responsive to community members’ needs and quickly answered questions. Intimate interaction with c... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1399355 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:02:48 +0100 1399355 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1376868&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2008%2F04%2F16%2Flive-from-new-york-it%25e2%2580%2599s-zyrtec-guerilla-marketing%2F A bit of a buzz has been going around the pharma blogosphere about a new marketing campaign for the over the counter allergy medicine (OTC) Zyrtec.  Jack Friday at PharmaGossip has wondered whether it’s legal.  Yes, as John Mack, author of Pharma Marketing Blog, noted. The marketing campaign is perfectly legal as Zyrtec is now an OTC pill. However, Mack wondered whether it is true, as Adrants reported, that Zyrtec flyers were seen on telephone poles in Boston.  He said: “I doubt this is a true story — more likely a Web 2.0 plant by crafty Zyrtec marketers.” Well, shortly after I read these two blog posts, I left my windowless cubicle for a dose of fresh air and sunshine and what did I see?  Well, I caught a glimpse of a flyer taped to scaffolding near my office in New York�... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1376868 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:02:22 +0100 1376868 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1358620&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F266606507%2Fqualcomm_exec_talks_about_the.html 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 ... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1358620 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:25:54 +0100 1358620 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1347606&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F263391268%2Fnew_report_mobile_marketing_fo.html 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... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1347606 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:11:42 +0100 1347606 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1338194&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F261423634%2Fthe_new_digital_divide_upcomin.html In February, traditional analog television signals will cease to exist.  While Americans with cable or satellite television will be unaffected, those who receive their television signals via old-fashioned rabbit-ears will be out of luck.  To continue watching television, they will have to purchase a converter box at their local electronics retailer or subscribe to a more expensive cable or satellite service. This move threatens to ignite a new digital divide.  Already, the elderly and low-income Americans are less connected to the Internet.  These same individuals are least likely to be aware of the upcoming digital transition or have the resources to become educated about it.  According to the Washington Post: “The digital conversion presents a huge logistic... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1338194 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:46:26 +0100 1338194 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1314426&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F254316224%2Fhard_numbers_quantify_iphones.html Last week, I wrote a post focusing on how the iPhone will help to jump-start the anemic mobile Web market and its implications for health.  Yesterday, mobile media analytics company, M:Metrics released a report showing how iPhone users are much more likely to access the Internet and conduct other data-heavy activities on their mobile phones.  A table showcasing the findings of their study is below (click image to enlarge).            (Source: HealthCareVox) HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1314426 Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:20:32 +0100 1314426 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1294719&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F249579317%2Fmessages_that_work_real_age_lu.html A few weeks ago I wrote a post focusing on whether scare tactics prompt people to stop smoking.  Today, I’d like to highlight a study published recently in the British Medical Journal illustrating why fact-based messages can be very effective. I’m sure many of you have seen the ubiquitous Internet advertisements for RealAge.  This test reveals whether you are “biologically younger, older or the same as your calendar age.”  This widely successful site has generated significant media coverage and big bucks for Hearst Digital Media.  RealAge is successful because it links our perpetual quest for youth with healthy habits.Now, a BMJ study further illustrates the power of this idea.  According to the New York Times: “If a doctor tells smoke... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1294719 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:58:01 +0100 1294719 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1283626&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F246838583%2Fcymfony_says_agencies_dont_get.html This morning I came across a blog post published on Social Media Insider that caused me to sit up and pay attention.  It focused on a study published late last month by my friends at Cymfony (Disclosure: My firm, Envision Solutions, has partnered with Cymfony on a social media communications white paper and has a business relationship with the company).Cymfony’s study indicates agencies just “don’t get” social media.  If the title of the AdWeek article on the study wasn’t eye-catching enough, the quotes from people who participated in Cymfony’s study were particularly damming.  For example: “Clients complained that their agencies -- creative, media, public relations, design and others – typically treat social channels like blog... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1283626 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:14:53 +0100 1283626 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1268589&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F243477271%2Flegal_experts_say_fda_is_makin.html Yesterday, Medical Marketing and Media published an analysis in its e-newsletter focusing on the FDA’s new draft guidance on off-label promotion.  The article was interesting because it suggests that the proposed regulations make off-label promotion harder rather than easier.  In addition, the FDA is already following the guidance, even though it is not in final form.  According to the article: “Sales reps could be effectively barred from circulating journal article reprints discussing off-label uses under FDA's draft guidance on ‘good reprint practices,’ and the agency considers the policy to be effective already, even in its draft form.” Most importantly, the FDA is helping to clarify a raft of regulations developed by OIG that made pharm... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1268589 Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:58:57 +0100 1268589 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1268588&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2008%2F02%2F29%2Falison-jost-gardasil-is-all-about-sex-but-merck-is-mum-%25e2%2580%2593-why%2F Two years ago, Merck launched a sexy ad campaign for its human papillomavirus (HPV),  vaccine Gardasil.  At the time, many focused on Merck’s marketing and public affairs efforts – especially the lobbying campaign it helped fund to make HPV vaccination mandatory. Today, Gardasil is still a hot button issue for some, but for much of the media the train has left the station.  Merck still heavily advertises its vaccine, but the furor over it has died down considerably.  For Merck, this is likely a favorable state of affairs. However, some would like Merck to turn Gardasil’s marketing volume up.  The Hasting Center’s Alison Jost, writing in the current edition of Bioethics Forum, is one of them.  She believes Merck and the government have not highlighted the fact that HPV is a hi... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1268588 Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:42:54 +0100 1268588 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1222258&cid=t_97307_86_f&fid=34451&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnotes.smbrower.com%2F2008%2F02%2Fgrowing-pains-part-ii.html The latest issue of Communications in Information Literacy was published this morning. I couldn't be happier with the final product -- We've got some really good articles and I think everyone involved should be really proud of their work.We have other CIL projects waiting in the wings. One item we hope to wrap up this week or next is the print-on-demand volume (via Lulu.com). Proceeds from sales of the printed volume will help defray our publication costs, so if you are a librarian and you want to support our work, please talk with your collection managers about purchasing a volume for your stacks. Over 180 libraries have already cataloged the journal; if even half of them were to buy a copy for their print collections, that would (most likely) pay for our next six months of web hosting. W... professional notes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1222258 Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:46:00 +0100 1222258 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1221287&cid=t_97307_145_f&fid=35710&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstoryofhealing.com%2F2008%2F02%2F11%2Fmedia-in-medicine-still-about-mending-the-broken%2F The use of media in medicine is a tool. It is a resource that enhances how health professionals communicate with each other thereby facilitating the rate of transmit of information and/or personal thoughts on published facts or theories involving developments in medicine. It is an open line that could, but not be limited to, service patients’ immediate concerns not necessarily warranting a trip to the emergency room. Therefore, the use of media in medicine is an addition to the practice of medicine rather than a replacement, nor is it an electronic substitute for an actual physician. While many are still “offline” or have limited “online” connectivity between both the physician and patient populations, some have started swinging in this direction. I personally... the story of healing blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1221287 Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:26:42 +0100 1221287 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1218226&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2008%2F02%2F08%2Fflap-over-dr-robert-jarvik-shows-why-marketing-has-to-be-internally-consistent-credible%2F Recently, major news organizations like the New York Times and ABC News have focused much attention on Dr. Robert Jarvik’s marketing work on behalf of Pfizer.  Many Americans have seen the television and print commercials where he touts the benefits of Lipitor and discusses why he prefers it over other cholesterol medications. Over the years, I watched the commercials and didn’t think much about them.  I knew a little bit about Jarvik and assumed that because he invented the artificial heart that he was well-positioned to discuss Lipitor.  However, when I learned that he is not a listened physician I was very surprised. I honestly thought he was because he had a white coat on and referred to himself as “doctor.” Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Jarvik, who is portraye... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1218226 Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:56:07 +0100 1218226 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1188553&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=34695&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicalconnectivity.com%2F2008%2F01%2F29.html%23a1147 The IHE North America kicked off their Connectathon yesterday. This is the second year (?) that the Patient Care Device domain (PCD) has had something to show in the Interoperability Showcase at HIMSS. I chatted with Todd Cooper via Skype and received the following update: As background, there are approximately 390 engineers from 70 companies and 2 university groups connecting 136 different systems.  On the PCD side, we have the following groups participating: B.Braun CapsuleTech Draeger Epic GE Healthcare LiveData Philips SpaceLabs Welch Allyn The profiles being tested are primarily focused on device data gateway reporting to enterprise applications (this fall the PnP profile will start active testing), and includes the basic PCD-01 message from last year (an HL... Medical Connectivity Consulting blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1188553 Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:51:34 +0100 1188553 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1163224&cid=t_97307_145_f&fid=35710&url=http%3A%2F%2Fksdescartin.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F01%2F20%2Fwelcome-to-the-17th-edition-of-medicine-20-blog-carnival%2F The Truth, Is It Still Out There? Life, as we know it to be so far, always reserves space for seeking answers. The truth. And in our search for truth along the avenues and paths of explorations, lie many dimensions and perspectives. Other’s truths may be some other’s lies. While unfortunately, as knowledge unfolds, some opposing and constricting force, covers the light and distract those whose quest is simple–to know the truth.  Medicine, had its share in this unraveling and evolution. It too had its share of dark times. Though these days are definitely not dark times for understanding Medicine and Life, the current state is also neither the absolute truth. I have the opinion that we are in a spasmic process–breaking down walls, tearing off false attachments fro... the story of healing blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1163224 Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:18:18 +0100 1163224 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1158436&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F218335471%2Fspend_300_find_out_your_prosta.html Today, the New York Times reports that a company formed by Wake Forest Researchers, ProActive Genetics, has developed a test that will enable men to find out whether they are at an increased risk of prostate cancer.  According to the Times: “[The test], some medical experts say, [is] a first taste of what is expected to be a revolution in medical prognostication. The results, they agree, are clear. But the question is what happens next. And will patients be helped or harmed? Because the new test — which will analyze DNA in blood or saliva samples and is to be offered by ProActive Genetics — cannot predict which men will get aggressive cancers, it could lead to more screening and unnecessary surgery and complications. But, proponents say, it could also help men decide... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1158436 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:33:06 +0100 1158436 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1167175&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=34695&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicalconnectivity.com%2F2007%2F12%2F21.html%23a1146 Conclusion: IT (and many vendors) just don't understand clinical workflows. From the Physician study, it seems vendors are still in love with the physician market - not that there's been a lot of adoption to encourage such interest. The inclination to "follow the money" does not fit this market segment. While physicians account for almost all the revenue generated in a hospital, the vast majority of these docs do not work for the hospitals. In fact, in most community hospitals there is this an unhealthy co-dependent relationship between physicians and hospital administration that works against consistent IT usage. Few hospitals have any reason to buy technology for physicians, nor to expect physicians to actually use what the hospital may buy for them. These studies show a hopeful trend. H... Medical Connectivity Consulting blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1167175 Fri, 21 Dec 2007 22:31:07 +0100 1167175 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1106338&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2007%2F12%2F19%2Fcommunications-minute-vertex-revamps-website-decides-to-become-more-transparent-%25e2%2580%2593-or-maybe-not%2F This week Pharmaceutical Executive reported that pharmaceutical company Vertex recently revamped its corporate Website in order to break away from the staid online presence maintained by many drug firms.  According to the magazine: “Vertex Pharmaceuticals, last week, took up residency on the World Wide Web with the launch of its corporate site, www.vrtx.com. Not content to look like most run-of-the-mill pharma sites, Vertex had design firm Dotglu build a virtual home that allows patients, physicians, and other visitors to easily peer into the company’s pipeline and find out what drugs are coming down the pike as well as see the faces behind the company. ‘It’s a sea of sameness when you look at pharma,’ Tomas Mendez, cocreative director at Dotglu told Pharm Exec. ‘[Othe... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1106338 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:58:45 +0100 1106338 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1084174&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=34695&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicalconnectivity.com%2F2007%2F12%2F10.html%23a1137 One of my favorite Clinical Engineers called today, prompted by last week's post on the Emergin acquisition by Philips. Like many that I've talked to, this person was surprised that Emergin was not snapped up sooner. A list of potential bidders were mentioned, but my lips were sealed. I will say this about potential suitors for Emergin - the lines are blurring between conventional categories of vendors, on both the health care IT and device sides.Also discussed were two continuing problems with medical device connectivity, alarm notification and point of care automation (we'll just call it "middleware" for this post). The first deals with hidden costs - on both the device side and infrastructure side. As you work through the details of plumbing everything together, you tend to uncover situ... Medical Connectivity Consulting blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1084174 Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:21:51 +0100 1084174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1079692&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=34695&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicalconnectivity.com%2F2007%2F12%2F07.html%23a1136 Philips announced this week that they have acquired private health care IT vendor Emergin for an undisclosed sum. From the Philips press release:Emergin is the leading US provider of software utilized to rapidly transmit medical alarm signals throughout hospitals. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007, upon which Emergin will become part of the Patient Monitoring business unit within Philips Healthcare sector. Through this acquisition, Philips will expand the use of information technology in healthcare - and specifically in its patient monitoring business - to improve patient outcomes and help hospitals work more efficiently.Philips Healthcare CEO, Steve Ruschowski, brags on Philips' number one position in the patient monitoring mark... Medical Connectivity Consulting blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1079692 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:14:30 +0100 1079692 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1079859&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2007%2F12%2F07%2Fcorporations-move-from-messages-to-muscle-get-healthy-or-pay-up%2F Today the Wall Street Journal reports that some companies are moving from carrots to sticks in their efforts to get their employees to lead healthier lives. According to the Journal: “Employees at some companies who are overweight, smoke, or have high cholesterol, for instance, and who don’t participate in supplementary wellness programs, will pay more for health insurance. In extreme cases, employees’ insurance deductibles could rise by $2,000.” Yikes. Clearly, some companies have decided that marketing wellness programs to employees is not enough.  To get people to change, they argue, you need to hit them where it hurts: their wallets. If more employers decide to launch similar programs, will their efforts make health promotion programs less relevant?  After all, if mon... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1079859 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:30:38 +0100 1079859 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1060142&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F192638470%2Fas_the_genetic_pandoras_box_op.html Earlier this week while conducting Sunday morning errands, I turned on my local NPR station and listened to an interview with the founders of 23andMe, a new “web-based service that helps you read and understand your DNA.”  In addition to the NPR feature, the company, co-founded by Linda Avery and Anne Wojcicki, has enjoyed a burst of positive media coverage, including a feature article in The New York Times.  I first learned about 23andMe while attending the Health 2.0 conference earlier this year, as Esther Dyson is a board member.  After reading a lengthy Wired Magazine article about the company, I was struck by the fact that while there is great excitement about new genetic technologies, there is also a lot of uncertainty.  For example, according to Wired... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1060142 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:39:34 +0100 1060142 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1057464&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2007%2F11%2F28%2Fphysician-comes-out-of-the-closet-%25e2%2580%2598i-took-money-from-drug-companies%25e2%2580%259d%2F Dr. Daniel Carlat, who writes a blog focusing on psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry, has written a mini-confessional about his days as a paid speaker for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. In his article, published in the New York Times magazine, he discusses how he felt getting paid to produce talks for Wyeth caused him to downplay the bad and highlight the good about the antidepressant Effexor. His article has generated a lot of commentary throughout the blogosphere – for and against him. However, one comment, posted on the Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog from a physician currently speaking on behalf of a drug company struck me. He said: “As a long time speaker myself for Wyeth, I read with much interest Dr. Carlat’s article. I too have been to many speaker’s seminars being u... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1057464 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:49:18 +0100 1057464 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1034909&cid=t_97307_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F186874015%2Femails_or_essays_for_business.html Have you noticed how effective business communications ... tend to mirror well-written expository essays?  How so? 1. Both introduce or explain a concrete theme to a target audience. In each case the communicator conveys information clearly  … in words that show recipients what they know … or have researched ... about their subject. 2. The communicator avoids personal or emotional reactions in order to present unbiased information about a theme or topic. The idea is to present objective facts in ways that allow readers to make their own choices – based on solid facts -not opinions. 3.  Both point to familiar evidence that illustrates main points. Concrete examples and images, icons or word pictures ... help communicators to a... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1034909 Sun, 18 Nov 2007 23:26:34 +0100 1034909 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1030256&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F185457837%2Fnew_research_charities_are_big.html Many forms of social media are relatively inexpensive and easy to deploy.  Given this, it’s not surprising that non-profits have embraced Web 2.0 technologies.  According to a new research study just released by marketing consultant Eric Mattson and Dr. Nora Barnes of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research: “Charitable organizations are outpacing the business world in their use of social media.  Seventy-five percent of the charitable organizations studied are using some form of social media including blogs, podcasts, message boards, social networking, video blogging and wikis.  More than a third of the organizations are blogging. Forty-six percent of those studied report social media is very important to their fundraising str... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1030256 Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:24:22 +0100 1030256 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1015061&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F181707684%2Fphysician_heal_thyself_a_silen.html Yesterday, Tara Parker-Pope, who recently started a New York Times blog (Well) after leaving the Wall Street Journal wrote a blog post highlighting a subject I’ve rarely heard discussed.  With Americans becoming increasingly obese, some physicians counseling patients to lose weight and exercise, are not taking their own advice.  In these cases doctors could be communicating a silent message to patients: if I don’t think it’s that important to exercise, it’s not critical for you to do so.   Parker-Pope highlighted the story of Dr. Chris Balgobin, who “found it difficult to counsel” patients with high blood pressure and diabetes because he was significantly overweight.  Balgobin said: “It was hard for me to tell them about lo... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1015061 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:13:04 +0100 1015061 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1012480&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2007%2F11%2F07%2Fcorporate-communications-moment-cafepharma-diversity-at-eli-lilly%2F This morning, John Mack, author of Pharma Marketing Blog, wrote an interesting post focusing on Eli Lilly and Company executive Diedre Connelly’s recent statements about the drug industry-focused online forum CafePharma.  According to Medical Marketing and Media Editor-in-Chief James Chase: “Lilly USA president Deirdre Connelly yesterday took a swipe at online forums that attract disgruntled, venting sales reps, describing sites like CafePharma.com as ‘outlets for people who don’t have the courage to speak out with their ideas’ for improving their roles and the performance of their companies.” Connelly’s view of CafePharma’s users reflects the view of other executives who feel that the forum is an outlet for unproductive anonymous venting. Despite Connelly’s opinion,... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1012480 Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:18:22 +0100 1012480 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1005358&cid=t_97307_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F180106883%2F As promised last June, the agency has created a new risk communication advisory panel to advise the agency about how to best communicate to the public about risks and benefits of the products it regulates. The idea, by the way, originated with the Institute of Medicine report last year that was highly critical of the FDA. Not surprisingly, there were a fair number of nominations - more than 240 altogether. “Communicating effectively about the safety and effectiveness of drugs and other medical products is one of the central roles of FDA,” says Randy Lutter, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for policy. “We were in such strong agreement about the value of the Risk Communication Advisory Committee that we expanded its scope to address communication regarding all products regulated by... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1005358 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:21:53 +0100 1005358 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1001132&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2007%2F11%2F02%2Fgood-news-bad-news-for-vertex%25e2%2580%2599s-telaprevir-vx-950%2F   As readers of this blog are aware, I’ve been following the progress of Vertex’s hepatitis C drug (Telaprevir or VX-950 ) over the past year or so.  I initially wrote about it from a communications perspective, saying that the drug was promising.  However, there were signs that company leadership may have overstated its potential. Today, we learn why it is always a good idea to exercise caution when communicating about a drug early on.  According to Reuters: “Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) released data on Friday showing its experimental hepatitis C drug is more effective than existing treatments and works in half the time, but causes significantly more side effects.” The side effect issue is a big deal.  In one Vertex trial, PROVE 1, 13% of pat... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1001132 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:42:06 +0100 1001132 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=998812&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F178340065%2Ffacebooks_policies_may_limit_i.html This morning, a popular conservative blogger who uses the name “Jon Swift” reported that Facebook terminated his membership because he used a pseudonym (his account was later restored).  Apparently, he violated the “social utility’s” regulations regarding anonymous users.  According to the Facebook representative who wrote Swift an e-mail: “Our Terms of Use, to which all users agree when they first sign up for the site, stipulate that you must not ‘impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself, your age or your affiliation with any person or entity.’"  (Source: HealthCareVox) HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=998812 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:51:09 +0100 998812 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1034971&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=36670&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fmsdn%2Fhealthblog%2F%7E3%2F184363136%2Fmailbag-healthblog-readers-confirm-some-important-trends.aspx I wanted to share a couple of insightful comments on previous HealthBlog posts that I received this week.  One reader responds to my post about a public hospital in Spain, Torrevieja Salud, that I wrote about while attending a health leaders event in Barcelona last December.  Using commodity software solutions and development tools from Microsoft and some of our partners, the hospital built an end-to-end IT system to manage all of their administrative and clinical operations.  And, they did it for a fraction of what most hospitals spend on IT.  The comment comes from a gentleman who was recently a patient at the hospital.  He writes; I am ex-IT and I am a patient of the Salud Torrevieja.  I am amazed at the interaction of their system... HealthBlog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1034971 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:11:44 +0100 1034971 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=964537&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=34695&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicalconnectivity.com%2F2007%2F10%2F19.html%23a1130 The ventilator market is an interesting one - there are many more vendors than in most other product categories, and greater product differentiation between vendors. This is also a product category where hospitals have, for the most part, been unsuccessful in standardizing on a single vendor.I came across an interesting ventilator vendor the other day, eVent Medical. Their adult and neonatal ventilators are pictured right. Key features include:Invasive and noninvasive ventilation5 hour battery lifeEmergency backup compressorIntegral nebulizerHeliox gas supportWhat intrigued me about their product is the optional web server. The product has both serial and Ethernet network connectivity - obviously, a network connection is require to serve web pages. Remote surveillance has become important ... Medical Connectivity Consulting blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=964537 Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:54:09 +0100 964537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=952280&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F170178917%2Fas_sermo_pfizer_link_up_some_w.html Today, the physician-only social network Sermo announced that it has inked a strategic partnership with Pfizer.  According to the press release: “[Sermo and Pfizer have launched a] strategic collaboration designed to redefine the way physicians in the U.S. and the healthcare industry work together to improve patient care. . . . Through this collaboration, Sermo’s community of physicians will have access to Pfizer’s clinical content in tangible ways that allow for the transparent and efficient exchange of knowledge. With access to the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on Pfizer products, physicians will be able to find the data they need, when they need it, to make informed decisions.”  (Source: HealthCareVox) HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=952280 Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:51:06 +0100 952280 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=941981&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F167965235%2Fmobile_mobile_mobile.html I’ve been talking with folks who attended the recent Health 2.0 conference about my impressions of the event.  Overall, I thought it was a good introduction to the space (and movement as Jane Sarasohn-Kahn has observed).  However, I was very surprised that those on the podium did not talk more about the power of mobile technologies to engage and educate.  Some still believe that mobile is far from a viable communications option here in the US because Americans aren’t using phones like folks in Asia and Europe.  However, I believe this perception is wrong.  It’s true that Americans are not yet using “rich media” tools like Web browsers and downloading applications.  They also don’t want to receive “push” advertisi... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=941981 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:47:56 +0100 941981 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=903789&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F161199439%2Fhillary_clinton_cans_negative.html Today I came across this shocking article published on Politico.com: “Clinton Campaign Kills Negative Story.” What?!  I know some may think I’m naive, but I’m no expert in celebrity or entertainment PR where this publicity move is practiced on a regular basis.  According to Politico: “Early this summer, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign for president learned that the men’s magazine GQ was working on a story the campaign was sure to hate: an account of infighting in Hillaryland.So Clinton’s aides pulled a page from the book of Hollywood publicists and offered GQ a stark choice: Kill the piece, or lose access to planned celebrity coverboy Bill Clinton.”  (Source: HealthCareVox) HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=903789 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:09:03 +0100 903789 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=858555&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2007%2F09%2F10%2Fdrug-wonks-fire-shot-across-nissen-furberg%25e2%2580%2599s-bow%2F   In an unprecedented move, Robert Goldberg, co-author of the blog Drug Wonks has broken a JAMA embargo on news about a group of editorials and studies that will be published in this week’s edition.  They focus on the cardiovascular risks of Actos and Avandia.  According to Goldberg: “We are publishing, ahead of an embargo, an editorial and a release on two separate articles being issued by JAMA on Sept 11. . . . The one by Nissen claims that Actos reduces risk of heart problems but has no impact on overall death from heart disease. This claim is made from a dataset that is observational, does not control for [severity] of heart problems and does not have MI or heart safety as a primary endpoint. The one by Furberg — a meta-analysis of only 4 clinical trials (a meta-analys... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=858555 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:06:58 +0100 858555 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=814339&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F146546808%2Fwhen_it_comes_to_communicating.html I’ve never had a study rock my world and change my perceptions as much as this one.  As I reported earlier this year, an analysis funded by the United Kingdom’s Economic and Social Research Council (UKESRC) found that many online health searchers skip content from government and corporate sources in favor of information developed by their peers.  I was so struck by this finding that I’ve been talking about this study with clients, in lectures, workshops and other public and private forums.  However, the question remains: why?  UKESRC had a few answers to this question, but I recently came across a study published nearly a decade ago that provides another compelling one.   (Source: HealthCareVox) HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=814339 Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:25:20 +0100 814339 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=793089&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F142771134%2Fjohnson_johnson_provides_more.html Yesterday, I wrote a lengthy post focusing on how I thought Johnson & Johnson could use its corporate blog to provide more context about why it decided to sue the Red Cross. Last night, J&J decided to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by me and a few other bloggers and posted more information about why it made this move on its corporate blog, JNJ BTW.  Ray Jordan, another member of J&J’s corporate communications team wrote the post, as Marc Monseau is currently on vacation.  It also appears that J&J has been communicating with bloggers about the suit.  Great job adding meat to those potatoes J&J.  This, my friends is what corporate blogging should be all about. Reading the tea leaves, responding quickly and having the courage to grapple with the... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=793089 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:56:10 +0100 793089 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=790712&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35750&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareVox%2F%7E3%2F142420894%2Fas_observers_criticize_johnson.html Today, bloggers and newspapers around the world are reporting that Johnson & Johnson has sued the Red Cross over the use of its trademark – the red cross.  According to a J&J statement: “After more than a century of strong cooperation in the use of the Red Cross trademark, with both organizations respecting the legal boundaries for each others' unique legal rights, we were very disappointed to find that the American Red Cross [ARC] started a campaign to license the trademark to several businesses for commercial purposes on all types of products being sold in many different retail and other commercial outlets. These products include baby mitts, nail clippers, combs, toothbrushes and humidifiers. This action is in direct violation of a Federal statute protecting ... HealthCareVox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=790712 Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:44:43 +0100 790712 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=773487&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2007%2F08%2F01%2Fpharma-industry-whistleblower-dr-peter-rost-joins-brandweek%2F Dr. Peter Rost, who has made a name for himself publishing controversial and widely-read information about the pharmaceutical industry, has joined BrandWeek’s blog, BrandWeekNRx. Rost replaces Jim Edwards, a longtime BrandWeek staffer who was selected for the prestigious Knight-Bagehot fellowship program, conducted by the Columbia School of Journalism. Edwards is known for his witty and hard-hitting examination of pharma industry marketing practices. It is likely that Rost, who has extensive marketing experience at Pfizer and other drug firms, will be expected to provide insights into corporate and product promotional strategies. This will be especially valuable as the industry struggles to understand and interact with its Internet empowered stakeholders. Right now, Rost and BrandWeek ar... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=773487 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:04:37 +0100 773487 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=767525&cid=t_97307_113_f&fid=34695&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicalconnectivity.com%2F2007%2F07%2F30.html%23a1096 Blogger Bruce Hubbert posts an update on the Cisco wireless LAN problem he called, "the ripple effect." You can read the original post here. Bruce notes that Partners Healthcare has been struggling with this issue, noting:...that a fix is forthcoming from Cisco, "They are revamping the behavior of RRM in the WLC 4.1 Maintenance release." Which is later confirmed by a Cisco employee, Saurabh Bhasin a TME,"With the 4.1 Maintenance Release(MR) due out on Cisco.com shortly, many improvements based on such feedback have been brought into RRM's algorithms ? improvements aimed at allowing administrators to fine-tune their RRM-run WLANs where desired. These enhancements will allow for greater control over both the channel and power output selection algorithms, so administrators may assist RRM in b... Medical Connectivity Consulting blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=767525 Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:19:22 +0100 767525 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=758079&cid=t_97307_147_f&fid=35751&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffardj.prblogs.org%2F2007%2F07%2F25%2Ffacebook-founder-drops-some-knowledge%2F I came across this interesting interview in TIME magazine today with the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, that has great relevance for how we talk about social media and marketing.  Here’s what he had to say: TIME: Why do you describe Facebook as a “social utility” rather than a “social network?” Zuckerberg: I think there’s confusion around what the point of social networks is. A lot of different companies characterized as social networks have different goals — some serve the function of business networking, some are media portals. What we’re trying to do is just make it really efficient for people to communicate, get information and share information. We always try to emphasize the utility component. TIME: Beyond Facebook’s exclusive adv... Envisioning 2.0 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=758079 Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:53:37 +0100 758079