Author: Editor

Marie Ennis-O’Connor‘s insight:

Tips for Going Social in a Regulated Industry

1. Work with the legal department, human resources and other groups to understand regulatory and legal requirements and create policies and procedures that work for all constituencies: regulators, employees and customers.

2. When in doubt about whether you’re in compliance, take a public conversation into a more private venue, like email or the telephone.

3. Educate anyone in your company who’s involved in social media about your policies. Explain why those policies exist, and discuss the best ways to use social media while remaining in compliance with regulations.

4. Like a company in a less regulated industry, develop a social media voice that’s true to your brand, respond quickly to negative comments, and provide lots of relevant and updated content — so people have a reason to come back.

5. Always disclose your connection to your company (including your title and the department you work in) when you comment or ask a question on social media.

Marie Ennis-O’Connor‘s insight:

Few domains in business and society have been untouched by the emerging social-media revolution—one that is not even a decade old. Many organizations have been responding to that new reality, realizing the power and the potential of this technology for corporate life: wikis enable more efficient virtual collaboration in cross-functional projects; internal blogs, discussion boards, and YouTube channels encourage global conversations and knowledge sharing; sophisticated viral media campaigns engage customers and create brand loyalty; next-generation products are codeveloped in open-innovation processes; and corporate leaders work on shaping their enterprise 2.0 strategy.

 

This radical change has created a dilemma for senior executives: while the potential of social media seems immense, the inherent risks create uncertainty and unease. By nature unbridled, these new communications media can let internal and privileged information suddenly go public virally. What’s more, there’s a mismatch between the logic of participatory media and the still-reigning 20th-century model of management and organizations, with its emphasis on linear processes and control. Social media encourages horizontal collaboration and unscripted conversations that travel in random paths across management hierarchies. It thereby short-circuits established power dynamics and traditional lines of communication.

Marie Ennis-O’Connor‘s insight:

Pharma must continue to walk a very fine line — between the flexibility and agility expected by social media users, the process of internal review, and the lack of regulatory guidance — to use non-branded Facebook pages as part of patient communities. The seven tactics described herein have been shown to increase user engagement. With equal parts caution and innovation, and while maintaining a sense of trustworthiness, page administrators can employ these tactics and create others, to the benefit of both the pharmaceutical companies and their patients.

Marie Ennis-O’Connor‘s insight:

The next time someone tells you that social media as a waste of time, tell them that while the media themselves may seem unnatural at first, the networks they enable may very well be the secret to innovation and our long-term professional success.

Marie Ennis-O’Connor‘s insight:

Abstract

The purpose of this review paper is to explore the impacts of social media on healthcare organizations, clinicians, and patients. This study found that healthcare organizations, clinicians and patients can benefit from the use of social media. For healthcare organizations, social media can be used primarily for community engagement activities such as fundraising, customer service and support, the provision of news and information, patient education, and advertising new services. The study also found that the most widely used social media venues for physicians were online communities where physicians can read news articles, listen to experts, research new medical developments, network, and communicate with colleagues regarding patient issues. Patients can benefit from the use of social media through education, obtaining information, networking, performing research, receiving support, goal setting, and tracking personal progress. Future research should further examine other financial, technological, informational, ethical, legal, and privacy issues surrounding the use of social media in healthcare.

Marie Ennis-O’Connor‘s insight:

Health IT applications geared toward patient-centered care actually do have a posiHealth IT applications geared toward patient-centered care actually do have a positive impact on patient outcomes, in an assessment of several hundred articles examining their effectiveness by the Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center. Researchers conducted the review, published this month, on behalf of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.