33 Charts

SXSH and Social Health's Coming of Age

2010-03-15T14:30:05-05:00

It’s been an important couple of days for social health. This week marked the inaugural SXSH in Austin one day before the famed SXSW. A meeting of passionate social health thinkers, SXSH was an unconference that was as important in what it symbolized as what it offered. SXSH has potentially instigated the evolution of a core meeting for those interested in the role of online socialization in health care. It's success stemmed from the hard work of Shwen Gwee, Dana Lewis, Reed Smith and Tom Stitt.

Johnson and Johnson’s Marc Monseau called SXSH one of the best social media events he had ever attended (and he’s seen a few). And SXSH caught the attention of SXSW organizers who assembled a last-minute panel to discuss SXSH. Until now, health has been an afterthought at SXSW.

Looking forward I have a couple of thoughts:

Silos. The topic of social media and health care draws on a handful of interests. SXSH focused on providers, pharma, and e-patients. But based on preliminary feedback from SXSH and attendees at the ER 2.0 SXSW panel, mobile developers are listening and likely will play a pivotal role in the implementation of apps that really change (or ‘delta’ in the words of Jen McCabe) health behavior.

The insight and innovation of Greg Matthews of the Humana's Innovation Center has brought attention to the role of payers in the health conversation. Tobin Plewak, The New England Journal of Medicine’s director of product innovation has amazing insight from his work bringing the world’s most prestigious medical journal into the social sphere. I had the opportunity to meet Tobin at SXSW and discuss SXSH 2011. He’s excited about attending and hopefully we’ll be lucky enough to have him as a speaker or panelist.

All of these stakeholders are important and deserve a voice as SXSH is defined.

Cross-fertilization. SXSH, by virtue of its relationship to SXSW, has at its disposal some of the greatest minds in interactive media. We should tap that resource. We should take advantage of the remarkable talent populating SXSW and cross-train with non-health experts from other industries. This year SXSH had Rohit Bhargava at our disposal which brought us visible credibility and expertise.

Show me the thought leaders. SXSH could evolve as the core meeting of those who think and innovate in health and social media. This, of course, will require the presence of serious minds. Thinkers drive attendance and conversation. Attendance draws sponsorship. SXSH should also strive to elevate those who are quietly pushing the margin but don’t have the brand recognition of the space’s KOLs.

Is there a doctor in the house? While painfully slow to engage in any meaningful way, physicians should not be discounted. There are MDs revolutionizing the way health maintained and delivered. SXSH should give them a pulpit. And don’t forget about the next generation of physicians. They’re in line to help set the standards once physicians take a more visible role.

After SXSH, let’s make SXSW healthier. Based on the standing-room-only status at our ER 2.0 panel, the attendees of SXSW want to hear more. Those versed in social media and healthcare should work to create panels that help SXSW attendees learn from what we’ve worked so hard to understand.

I believe that at some point we’ll look back at the passion of those present at this year’s SXSH and reminisce how it all started.

I’ll see you in 2011.

Blippy: How Transparent Are You?

2010-03-10T06:44:27-06:00

Transparency can be fun. But the rage of digital voyeurism may be peaking. Case in point: Blippy, the latest incarnation of real-time, social self-exposure. I learned about Blippy on Scoble’s latest Cinch broadcast with founder Philip Kaplan.

While Twitter asks what we’re doing and Gowalla asks where we are, Blippy asks what we bought, how much we paid and which credit card we used.

It works like this: You go to the store and buy some stuff. You pay with your credit card. The world instantly sees where you were and what you paid via your Blippy feed . Everybody comments.

(“Excuse me, I’d like everything on AMEX except the whip and the rubber chicken”)

Transparency has a human flexion point that’s different for everyone. I find Gowalla amusing, for example. Gwenn O’Keefe finds it disturbing. So for some Blippy will provide the opportunity for community and perhaps entertainment. But at the end of the day I suspect it will exceed the comfort zone of most. I wouldn’t expect a tipping point at SXSW.

Luddite skepticism you say? After all, they laughed at Twitter and they laughed at YouTube. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.

Speaking of laughing, check out Colbert’s thoughts on Blippy.

Engaging Physicians in the Social Space

2010-03-08T21:12:48-06:00

The time is approaching when businesses will want to capture the eyes and minds of physicians in the social world. Throwaways and mailouts will give way to more current channels of communication. Friends in the health industry ask how they should connect with physicians using social media channels.

The rules really aren’t much different but here are a couple of things the consultants will never tell you:

I’m not on Sermo. While Sermo and Ozmosis may seem like obvious targets, physician specific verticals are tricky. The road to the successful physician network is littered with the skeletons of startups who went broke trying to capture our eyeballs. While its hard to ignore Forrester’s bullish analysis of services like Sermo, I don’t expect the enthusiasm to be sustained. Look to the next iteration of IMedExchange to possibly be a game changer in this area. Until then, the connectors who are going to get you where you want to go aren’t necessarily hangin’ with other doctors. They’re found in the wild.

We’re not talkin’ about pills. If you listen to physicians on social platforms you may be surprised to learn that we’re not always talking about medicine. Sure we chime in on healthcare reform and some are in it only to pimp their health sites and blogs, but the real conversations fall off center of traditional medical things. While it’s possible that the next generation of physicians will to use social networks primarily for the dissemination of professional information, I suspect that the way to a physician’s heart and mind is through the everyday dialog.

Remember the Law of the Few. In The Tipping Point (and long before Twitter) Malcolm Gladwell wrote about The Law of the Few which suggests that “the success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent upon the involvement of a few people with a particularly rare set of social gifts.” These few are referred to as Connectors – those with a special gift for bringing the world together. Look for physician connectors. Listen to them and watch what they do. Most organizations fail to make the meaningful connections with the real medical influencers that bear fruit on the major social platforms.

Look at Scott Monty. The health industry doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to connecting with someone like me. I have always asked: “Where’s the Scott Monty of healthcare?” When will United Healthcare or Pfizer replicate the success of Ford? It isn’t complicated. Watch Scott on Twitter. See how he connects. Get a sense of how he makes people feel. Watch where he speaks. And who ever heard of an automobile company appearing at SXSW to offer free rides? He had apparently.

A few healthcare socialites who are making great headway: Marc Monseau (Johnson & Johnson), Greg Matthews (Humana), and Lee Aase (Mayo Clinic).

“90% of social is just showing up.” I took a lot of heat when I posted this quote on Twitter a few months back. But I think there’s something to it. Everyone wants to believe that social success comes from deep, ‘meaningful’ relationships. These descriptors are relative in the virtual world. Social media isn’t rocket science and simple visibility has real value when you’re starting out. Find socially active doctors. Be present. Be real. See how things evolve.

We’re not there yet. Be wary of industry-driven surveys fashioned to make you believe the medical world is spending all its time on Twitter or physician specific networks. The numbers of physicians meaningfully engaged isn’t substantial at this point. That’s because we’re busy. Windows of online opportunity with physicians are narrow. Despite the digital idealism of Health 2.0, the art of medicine still involves one individual touching another. And it's hard to do that on Facebook.

As the next generation of wired physicians grow into positions of power, expect real online engagement to evolve as a meaningful avenue for interaction. Until then, scrappy, smart, creative strategy that genuinely understands and respects the behavior of the social physician will rule the space.

SXSH is Coming

2010-03-04T06:39:26-06:00

It’s one week to the SXSH – social health’s latest unconference that pulls together patient, provider and pharma types. It goes down one day before the famed SXSW in Austin, Texas.

As the ultimate meeting of social visionaries, SXSW draws the movers and shakers of the interactive world. SXSH is drawing on SXSW’s health-minded population to take over where it leaves off. Health, after all, is often an afterthought for the strapping young demographic most enthralled with social media.

This inaugural meeting is the brainchild of Shwen Gwee and Dana Lewis fueled by the hard work of the St. David Hospital System’s social wunderkind, Reed Smith. Confirmed speakers include Johnson & Johnson’s Marc Monseau, MD Anderson’s Jenn Texada, Humana’s Greg Mathews, Better Health’s Val Jones, Ignite’s Fabio Gratton and the unflappable David Hale.

Most importantly you’ll have the opportunity to have a beer with Ed Bennett.

SXSH is important because it puts social health on the agenda. Hopefully the concept of SXSH will evolve and showcase the need for a forum like this in a setting like SXSW. For any healthcare organization within reach of the Austin area, the unique opportunity that SXSH offers shouldn’t be missed. There are still a few tickets available. You can register here.

And if you run into Chris Brogan, David Armano, Steve Rubel, Amber Naslund, Jeremiah Owyang, Robert Scoble, Peter Kim or any other board-certified social media guru, point them to the SXSH mixer on the rooftop of the Texas Healthcare Association building Thursday evening. It'll be the hottest gig in town. No ticket? No worries. I’ll personally muscle you in the door.

See y'all in in Austin.

The Health 2.0 Fantasy

2010-02-06T17:12:05-06:00

I’m wondering is Health 2.0 is more fantasy than revolution.

What got me thinking is this post by Susannah Fox where she comes to the despondent realization that health 2.0 may not be affecting outcomes. There’s a nice follow-up here at Walking the Path.

It raises the question: What do we think Health 2.0 is really going to accomplish? What should we really expect to come of it?

I don’t have the answer.

Health 2.0 is as much a process as it is a movement. It can’t be stopped and its outcome is not the choice of any individual. From a public health perspective the impact of collaboration and communication will be borne out over generations.

We need to be careful about overstating 2.0’s ability to change health on an individual level. Social networks provide platforms for interaction. This collaboration creates opportunity but doesn’t necessarily create change. Behavioral change at its most basic level is an individual issue. Health is a personal process.

And of course there’s the hive. But the hive is not about individuals. It’s all about the collective. Health change is individual. Health behavior is intimate, personal, and human. The hive is not human. And the hivemind has no regard for the needs of the individual.

You can inform me and we can share and contribute. But ultimately we answer to no one but ourselves.

It’s fun to think about the promise that Health 2.0 has for all of us as individuals. But I can’t help but think that some of it is fantasy.

Breakthrough and Telehealth's Tipping Point

2010-01-29T16:15:30-06:00

If you told me last year that web-base psychotherapy would gain traction I wouldn’t have believed you. That was before I met Mark Goldenson, CEO of Breakthrough, a silicon valley based web startup that matches patient and therapist through a secure online portal. Breakthrough clients can review a therapist’s qualifications and fees, view sample video, and initiate therapy by video or phone.

In a 2.0 world marked by clouds, hives and democratized healthcare, Breakthrough is cultivating one-on-one relationships through improved access to mental health services. Everyone should be talking about this.

Goldenson made the TechCrunch 50 this past fall and maintained his continence before the likes of Tim O’Reilly, Kevin Rose and other tech luminaries. You can check out the coverage in Wired and Forbes.

The road to viable online teletherapy is littered with skeletons of those who were either ahead of the parade or didn’t have the technical support of Breakthrough. But telehealth has reached a tipping point. And Breakthrough may be there to seize the moment and tap the 2/3 of America’s 58 million with mental illness too stigmatized to seek help in person.

I’d like to say I discovered Mark Goldenson but it was he who discovered me after I delivered a lunchtime keynote on social media at this year’s American Telemedicine Association meeting in Palm Springs. He’s a pretty sharp guy. And if the fervency of his questions is any measure of his capacity to lead, Breakthrough may be worth keeping and eye on.

Social Privacy Campaign at Toronto University Health System

2010-01-13T06:30:00-06:00

I loved Hospital Song’s original post describing efforts by the Toronto University Health System to thwart social media privacy violations. What I love more is seeing the posters!

In a healthcare world where social strategy centers around burying one’s head in the sand it’s refreshing to see such a progressive, reality-based campaign.

This is the first of its kind as far as I’m aware.

I’m convinced that Elizabeth Han's thinking is the product of her environment.

Will Health Privacy Keep American Doctors Disconnected?

2010-01-12T07:00:00-06:00

This picture from 3G Doctor is remarkable. It captures the flier of a Merck supported Mexican Medmobile initiative that apparently connects patients with their doctors via SMS (translation available on 3G Doctor Blog)

But don’t expect fliers of this type in American offices anytime soon. Risk of privacy violation and difficulty in documentation stifle this level of doctor-patient connectivity. The very laws created to protect patients may ultimately thwart the timely adoption of new communication channels.

And the slow march towards a single payer system will only make real connectivity a rare bird.

Look to the groundswell in mobile technology and social platforms will force change in our current privacy laws. Until then look for innovation to come from the second and third world.

Pharma Names Doctors - Now What?

2009-12-30T07:17:57-06:00

This was the year that Pharma disclosed the names and payments of their physician consultants. Look here for physicians speaking and consulting with Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, and Pfizer.

Physician disclosure of conflict is important. It helps put a physician’s opinion and point of view into a context. Disclosure has long been the standard in the academic world. This represents the first time that such information has been made available to the general public.

But how will patients use this information and how will it affect care and outcomes? Should patients flatly avoid physicians or others who have a relationship with a pharmaceutical company? And should patients routinely screen physicians for conflict?

I don’t know the answer to these questions. I’m not sure patients know the answer to these questions. I suspect patients may not like the idea but would be willing to overlook a pharma connection when the reputation of the physician is impeccable.

Transparency is all the rage. Expect more. But I’m wondering how the average health consumer will practically process the information.

Should You Give Your Doctor a Gift?

2009-12-23T07:33:57-06:00

I used to get lots of gifts from patients during the holidays. Not so much anymore.

I’m more patient-centered than ever. And the older I get the more relaxed I get with my patients. I’d like to think that I’m more likeable. But still fewer gifts than ten or fifteen years ago.

So what gives?

Times have changed. Doctors nowadays are dispensable. If a patient doesn’t like what they’ve got they can move on. But this is probably a good thing. It’s what patients should do. In the old days there was less of that. We needed a tight relationship with our providers. It was essential. Gifting may have been seen as a means of getting what one needs. Not so much now.

But in this evolving world of patient empowerment is there role for the cultivation of a stronger relationship from the patient’s end?

When it comes to my relationships I care less about cookies and gourmet pears. Intent resonates more with me these days. Much like a handwritten note, which seems to be so much more powerful than twenty years ago.

The world of patient care is changing quickly and not for the better. Caring for the chronically ill is stressful, backbreaking work. If you’ve got a relationship that works think about pointing out the value in what you’ve got. Gourmet pears aside, remember that a sincere, heartfelt thank-you represents one of the best gifts you can give your doctor.