As the dust settles over the debate about whether social media is indeed worth all the hype, the medical fraternity has been slowly pointing the needle (pun intended) towards a yes.
The lure of social media notwithstanding, the medical community has been apprehensive about using it. Lack of clear knowledge of usage and value, skeptical response and industry regulations have combined to turn social media into a Pandora’s Box in the minds of many who have taken the Hippocratic Oath.
Times have [...]

“Powerful Social Expressions” is a series showcasing some of ERWW PR’s most successful uses of social media in the past year.
Headstrong: A Four-Part Series
Since agency president Marian Salzman’s successful brain tumor removal in July 2007, she’s donated her time and PR expertise to Massachusetts General—the hospital where she had the operation—and to several organizations that assist soldiers who’ve endured brain injury.
She also commemorated the milestone in a personal and moving multipart blog series, entitled “Headstrong” and featured on the Huffington [...]

Reform Minded
Effects of health-care reform in the U.S. on citizens are still shaking out

The full ramifications of the newly passed health-care reform bill haven’t yet played out. But expect more effects to be felt this year. For example, providers can no longer deny coverage to children based on pre-existing conditions—but the bill doesn’t stop providers from increasing the cost of covering those kids. The short-term hit on consumers’ pocketbooks may be balanced out by the phasing out of lifetime [...]

Originally posted on eurorscgpr.com/blog.
During the protracted health-care debate, it quickly became clear that the media put a premium on accessing information: Even C-SPAN, the cable industry’s nonstop outlet for televised government affairs, had to challenge the Obama administration to open the doors to the process. In the meantime, Americans would have to make do with the networks—Fox News, CNN, The Washington Post and other major media outlets—to get the juice on health care.
Just as the media seems to be at [...]

Originally posted on eurorscgpr.com.
In his recent live exchange with Republican lawmakers, President Obama was criticized for failing to follow through on his promise to make the debate over health-care reform transparent by televising negotiations on C-SPAN.
Though he did admit it was a “legitimate criticism,” President Obama also pointed out some of the logistical hurdles that can arise with efforts to improve transparency:
“Look, the truth of the matter is that if you look at the health-care process—just over the course of [...]

Principles of crowdsourcing—aka the concept of spontaneous group intelligence—are often identified with creative services, but they can also be used to advance scientific exploration. Crowdsourcing has, in fact, spurred the development of the open-notebook science movement, an approach that allows open access to raw scientific data to help solve scientific problems.
Open collaboration models have already been harnessed to help biopharmaceutical companies uncover novel insights and solutions such as identification of novel biomarkers, development of software and modeling tools, and optimization [...]

Originally posted on lifestory2010.com.
Health-care professionals’ adoption and use of digital channels has been outpacing even that of health-care consumers over the past 12 to 18 months, and for a growing number of physicians, the Internet is quickly becoming their preferred resource for both education and promotional content.
Use in the clinical setting is growing, and now digital channels, whether websites, eDetailing or mobile content, are becoming part of physicians’ routine before, during and after patient consultations to find information and complete [...]

Originally posted on lifestory2010.com.
Just as digital has transformed other industries, such as photography, travel and retail, so too has it impacted health. People seek out digital outlets for health information. Who among us doesn’t head right to Google (or Bing or Yahoo!) to query a health-related matter? For consumers and professionals alike, health care begins at search, which puts online information and properties front and center.
That means many people rely on our clients, and on us.
They rely on us for [...]