Health E Minds: Healthcare Commentary from Ketchum blogs

Healthcare Not Immune to PC Language

Nancy Hicks — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:01:00 +0000

“Politically correct” has become a powerful cultural meme that transforms our language and the way we communicate. It can signal a level of respect for a group of people – “garbage collectors” became “sanitation engineers”, and Whole Foods calls their employees “team members”. Marketers have been quick to inflate the value of their products with new terminology. The downscale “used car” became “pre-owned”, and so much more appealing.

One would think that healthcare language, anchored in the solid world of science, would be immune to PC terminology. While no one has found a better way to say “lipids” which is already an improvement over “fats”, the language of healthcare continues to morph in response to public sensibilities and scientific insights.

Changing Patterns in Drug Delivery

Clif Hotvedt — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:15:44 +0000

For decades, the predominant delivery method
for pharmaceutical products has been oral tablets, capsules or liquids, with the fewer, less complicated doses a day the better.

If a new medication was introduced requiring four doses a day, competitors would strive to develop a drug requiring three or two or even only one dose a day. If it could be taken any time of day with or without food or other drugs it was even better. Fewer daily doses were invariably said to improve compliance because there were fewer doses to miss. It should be noted, though, that these were “small molecule” drugs – ones developed using chemistry that either because of their own properties or through formulation manipulation could be absorbed through the digestive tract into the body. Not surprisingly, according to a recent article in Drug Development and Delivery, of the medications currently available in the United States, 7,468 are oral and less than 3,000 are injectable. (Topical, ophthalmic and other routes are far less prevalent.)

Transparency Can Play Key Role in Reducing Hospital Error

Maggie Travis — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:25:46 +0000

A new medical television show premiered
giving viewers a glimpse into medicine that other shows haven’t touched on much before; errors in patient care. Unlike most medical shows today, Monday Morning’s focal point is the doctor as human rather than hero, emphasizing that mistakes do occur.

There is no doubt that some professions are held to higher standards especially when it comes to our safety and wellbeing. We are more likely to care about our airline pilot’s performance than our travel agent’s. We hold our medical community to a similar higher standard. While no one is perfect, it is challenging to allow our healthcare providers to remain under the same umbrella. The issue of medical mistakes is a reality—and a harsh one at that. According to a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), at least 1.5 million preventable medical errors occur in U.S. hospitals annually, with up to 98,000 deaths.

Conveying the Excitement of Scientific Discovery

Clif Hotvedt — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:00:00 +0000

A challenge we often face in medical
communications is making research come alive for reporters and hence their audiences. Researchers often seem to think that if they simplify science they’re diluting its intrinsic profundity.

A fine example of how this need not be the case is coming up for auction in April – a letter the English molecular biologist Francis Crick wrote to his 12-year old son in 1953 shortly after discovering the structure of DNA with James Watson. Opening with “Jim Watson and I have probably made a most important discovery,” Crick then proceeds to describe their discovery as a father, not just the co-father of DNA.

A Healthy Future for Healthy Living?

Rob Flaherty — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 05:00:00 +0000

Editor's Note: This post first appeared on the World Economic Forum Blog.

At the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2013 there was anticipation mixed with some trepidation about the level of fortitude leaders would bring to the essential task of reducing chronic illness and promoting healthy living. Certainly, the motivation is there – 36 million lives lost every year and millions more disabled or compromised by chronic illness – but there is work to do to turn talk into action.

Male Contraception: The Next Sexual Revolution?

Chelsea Krepps — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:03:45 +0000

Just as the female birth control pill revolutionized women’s
sexual health in the 1960s, could a new innovation be under way that will once again shake up the way we view human sexuality and fertility?

Word on the Tweet: Listening to the Diabetes Community on Twitter

Andrew Lamb — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:04:00 +0000

As a healthcare digital strategist, when I want to
understand trends and get a sense of what online communities are saying, Twitter is an essential source of data. The healthcare arena has generally been slow at adopting social media (mainly for regulatory reasons) but this is changing.

To demonstrate this, we developed the infographic at the bottom of this post to analyze Twitter activity from the diabetes community around EASD 2012, the European Association for the Study of Diabetes’ 2012 congress held in Berlin.

The infographic provides insight on a number of questions. Which stories dominated conversation at EASD 2012? Who were the main contributors? Was the diabetes patient community part of the discussion? How active were pharmaceutical companies at communicating on Twitter? It underlines the fact that those involved in the communication of science are rapidly adapting to a world where news moves faster and reaches more people, and where old boundaries, such as those between scientists and the public, are becoming more fluid.

App Happy: Consumers Seek Health at the Touch of a Finger

Leslie Schrader — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:05:33 +0000

We all know it – mobile is where to be and that
goes for health and wellbeing. In fact, there are about 9,000 health apps in the iTunes store and that number was projected to increase to 13,000 in the past year.

But what does the demand and growth mean – is it going to go beyond cardio, fitness, stress relief and diet monitoring? All signs point to yes. People are using not just one app but several to help manage, maintain and elevate their personal well-being as well as that of their families. And the expanding usage of these apps provides opportunities for brands and marketers to shape the next great health app.

The Next Weight Loss Craze: Treatment Options

Deirdre Middleton — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 18:38:45 +0000

To prevent or to treat? That is the new question
in the obesity discussion that focuses on an area of the debate that has remained largely off the table: Treatment. Today’s ubiquitous discussion on obesity is hard to miss for good reason – 60 million adults age 20 and older are overweight and if the rates continue, by 2030, half of U.S. adults will be obese. It is a small wonder that a Google search on obesity yields more than 90 million hits or that each day we read about a new initiative to get people moving, provide health and nutritional information for consumers or exalt the latest way to eat from a generally more svelte country or region.

The Evolving Rules of Social Media and Healthcare

Joe Wagner — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:46:01 +0000

At a recent FDA/CDER-CHPA seminar on
promoting Over the Counter medicines in a social media world, experts wrestled with the fact that consumers are increasingly turning to others like themselves or other online channels for health information, data, and first-hand experiences to help them make better medical decisions. Almost half of consumers are reading someone else's commentary or experience about health or medical issues on an online news group, website, or blog. They are turning to social channels and platforms because they want customer service, immediate answers to basic questions, guidance and someone to make sense out of the cacophony of medical information.