Is failure an option?
No one wants to be wrong; ever. As much as there are trendy business mantras such as ‘Fail Fast’ which apparently encourage failure (as long as you learn quickly), it somehow just doesn’t translate to the world of a pharmaceutical company. In fact, ‘fail-fast’ is really an engineering concept that is most often considered in [...]
A Practical Guide to Interpreting PMCPA guidance
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 [...]
Healthcare engagement in the absence of regulatory guidance
In early March 2011, at a pharmaceutical marketing conference in Munich, Heather Simmonds of the PMCPA gave very much the same perspective on UK and European regulatory guidelines that she has for the past few years. There were some murmurings amongst the crowd from those who had heard it all before. Refreshingly, at the same [...]
Engaging to improve Russia’s health
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the poor state of health of the Russian population has been a topic for national and international discussion. Life expectancy is around 15 years less than in most European countries, and HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular diseases and alcohol-related problems are all major concerns. The Russian population is declining, and inequalities [...]
European developments in online pharmacovigilance
A relatively new software company is challenging the landscape of social media monitoring, particularly in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.
A medical information perspective on social media
For medical information professionals, the Internet presents an interesting dilemma. On the one hand, it is a chaotic environment; a dangerous place for a medical information professional. Yet on the other hand, it is difficult to ignore the testimonies of patients whose lives have literally been transformed through a wealth of health and medicine information, [...]
Can pharma enhance patient care through social media?
“This house believes patient care will be enhanced through pharma’s involvement in social media“. So read the title of the debate I was invited to take part in at the PIPA Annual Conference 2010 on 5th July. I was especially excited to take part in this debate, not only because of the opportunity to participate [...]
A 7-step digital health self-diagnosis: How do you score?
How healthy is your digital engagement strategy? World-class ‘olympian’, or ‘gasping for breath’? We’ve put together a quick and fun tool for you to self-diagnose the health of your digital engagement. Just answer the seven questions below and see how your score adds up. We recommend that you take this simple self-diagnosis check whether your [...]
Serious Games? Bayer’s DIDGET diabetes meter appeals to adult patients too
When it comes to supporting patient care in a relevant and engaging way through digital technologies, there is a huge amount of potential yet to be exploited. Last year we wrote about ‘serious games’ for health, and Creation Healthcare’s Susi O’Neill outlined how technology can be used to make healthcare fun. Serious games can provide [...]
How pharmaceutical companies engage patients with PatientsLikeMe
When we announced the Healthcare Engagement Strategy Award winners in January, we awarded PatientsLikeMe the ‘Changing Healthcare Award‘ for having the engagement strategy we felt was most likely to change healthcare. Speaking with PatientsLikeMe co-founder Ben Heywood, it was clear that there was much more to come from the team behind what must be the [...]
Regulation is Pharma’s Biggest Challenge, Says Research
Information about regulation is at the top of pharma marketers’ wish list when it comes to digital marketing, according to research conducted by the organisers of DigiPharm Europe 2010 amongst delegates of last year’s conference. Planning Europe’s largest pharma marketing conference Creation Healthcare is working with the organisers of DigiPharm Europe 2010 conference, which takes [...]
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Regulation