by DJ Edgerton (@wiltonbound)

The question seems almost nonsensical at first – your Twitter followers may be really outstanding people, but they’re not organic chemists or researchers. And your Facebook fans, while devoted, probably do not, generally speaking, know how to move a new drug through the FDA approval process.

Just the same, it’s a mistake to discount your social audiences as a source for insight and innovation. In fact, a wide range of category-leading companies do just that. While social media is not as planned or controlled as a focus group, there’s potential in polling the audience when it comes to research and development – and along the way you can even benefit the very people you’re polling.

Doing it right requires a three-step plan:

Understand what you want to accomplish. In this regard, social media is no different than traditional R&D research: Don’t ask existing or potential customers anything without a clear purpose behind “the ask.” What do you want to accomplish? Are you looking for feedback on a service (such as when consumers call into the customer care center) or improvement on a product or direction for a new advertising campaign? What about new products: Are you exploring the potential for one or looking at whether your customers have a need for a product that you have not thought of?

A solid roadmap will have goals covering what you hope to accomplish and clear indications of which social channels are – and are not – appropriate. Need to demo a product? You Tube makes sense. On the other hand, Twitter may be a better fit for simple questions requiring quick feedback. And tools like custom Facebook apps offer ways to bring customers and fans into the content creation process.

Be relevant in your questions and rigorous in your data collection. A solid roadmap lays out needs and expectations, but even the best plans can go astray if your research questions don’t balance your needs with the realities of social media, which often boil down to: Don’t be boring.

Tweets sending people to a 50-question survey or requests that Facebook followers sit through six sample commercials in search of the one they like best are unlikely to go anywhere. Instead, keep things short, clear and – most importantly – be ready to monitor and take feedback from the conversations that grow out of your public questions. They can be the source of tremendous insight.

Crunch the data and don’t leave the audience in the dark. One of the unique aspects of social media is that a lot of silos get knocked down – people have a great (and sometimes unreasonable) desire to peek behind the corporate curtain and know what’s going on. This is a powerful force and can jump-start your social-driven research – people love to be treated like insiders, and promising to give them a first peek at a new innovation, a new campaign or even just a slight change in how your company does something will motivate participation in your research.

The key is: You have to deliver on your promise. If you tell participants you’re working on a new way to talk about an established product and want their input, give them a peek before it’s rolled out to the public. Not doing so is bad form in the social landscape; promising to do it and then not delivering is an even bigger faux pas.

Whether it’s a one-drug boutique company or a global powerhouse, research and development is a constant part of pharma’s product and service lifecycles. While social media isn’t a substitute for formalized marketing research, it can be a powerful, low-cost augmentation to the toolbox.

At ePharma Summit 2011, in February, Thomas Goetz, Executive Editor of WIRED Magazine, discussed how technology can help people make better decisions about their health, and explains the concept of Information with Feeling, or I.W.F., as a way to communicate messages more efficiently through good design.

Did we see this happen? Is the best yet to come?

by Briana Campbell (@MsMatchGirl)

People like to make out that the issues surrounding pharma’s involvement with social media are extraordinarily complex. I’m not so sure.

It’s over-simplistic – but still true – to say that the main worry with digital media for the pharmaceutical industry is the interactivity of social networks. You see, I don’t think it’s the rapidity of the connection that worries regulators and marketers, or the availability of information – not by themselves. It’s the ability to use that speed and access to share the information.

People are scared of the ability to share.

On one level, it makes sense. Disgruntled employees can raise embittered grievances. Dissatisfied customers can complain. Discontented partners can spread untruths. None of this is fact-checked or vetted or permitted – it simply happens. And, human nature being what it is, the old adage that the unhappy ones are twice as motivated to tell people can be true. That’s frightening.

Marketers and regulators fear unhappy people sharing.

This is natural, but it is, I think, the mistake. We shouldn’t fear bad news. We should welcome it, because hearing about it first, and fast, allows us to address it.

To this end, some regulators are considering recruiting social media as a channel for collecting adverse-event reports. The UK’s Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) joined the European Medicines Agency, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the U.S. FDA in starting a Twitter feed in December, and pondered its utility as a reporting channel in September.

Pharma is used to assuming that social media is a flood of bad news that we’re holding back. To continue the metaphor, what if we started to see social media as a spout that would alert us to the leak?

Regulators and companies would know about adverse events sooner, and their relationship with each other would be more transparent. Patients and healthcare providers could report more easily. Marketers could address potential problems faster.

All of this information is already being collected. And it’s already being made public. And it has been for almost 50 years. Is this really such a groundbreaking step, as we’re so conditioned to think? Or in adding social media reporting, would we simply be updating the type of form that a patient fills out, just as we added them to websites a decade or two ago?

Perhaps social media is not really the problem we think it is, opening us up to people saying goodness-knows-what. Perhaps it’s a solution, in a wider and busier world, to gather patient data more efficiently than we could otherwise.

by Krissy Goelz (@krisgoelz)

We here at Pixels & Pills are well-known for our vocal support of digital technology and its place in healthcare – how it’s helped medicine and care to advance and to help people better than ever before. But today I wanted to look at one particular facet of healthcare, and how going digital has improved it: the plight of the patient with a chronic or long-term condition. These technologies have made a huge difference in a variety of ways.

It’s given more treatment options to long-term patients.

Not only has research been helped by advances in technology, but communication technology advances have meant that healthcare professionals and patients all over the world are able to know about new treatment options, and new studies of existing treatments, faster and easier than ever before.

It’s created the e-patient movement.

I originally typed “it’s created the empowered patient”, but that’s not entirely true, of course. Patients were taking charge of their own healthcare long ago, to the best of their ability. That’s the key word – it’s that ability that’s changed so much. The internet’s effect on the democratization of information has been a sea change. Dedicated healthcare professionals can find information so much more easily now, but more than that, so can we all – and their patients can, and will, help them do so.

It connects patients with each other.

Not only can e-patients search for information, but they can find each other. This is irreplaceable and invaluable. Patients can share their experiences and provide empathy in a way that only people in the same situation can do. And thanks to digital communications, it’s increasingly independent of location and platform.

It’s helped personalized medicine take shape.

The Is My Cancer Different website is an excellent example of this. Data can be parsed by disease and personal demographics such that a long-term patient can be identified by the specifics of their situation. This enables their healthcare professionals to address their condition based on who they are as whole entities, not just as a case number. A person’s geographic location, family situation, work history, activity requirements, allergies, medical conditions, social standing or any number of other factors can influence what happens. Their time to diagnosis, the accuracy of the diagnosis, the treatment options available, the follow-up, the compliance – it’s all exquisitely sensitive to the patient’s unique case. And, of course, the medical particulars of the condition are the foundation of personalized medicine.

Are you working on any projects that help the long-term patient find and enjoy better care?

by Russ Ward (@russcward)

What does it feel like to have a heart attack? What’s the cure for muscle soreness post-workout?  What one daily habit has the most positive effect on your health?

These are real questions asked on the popular question and answer site Quora. Question sites such as Quora, Yahoo! Answers, and Fluther are proliferating on the internet. On these sites members can ask or answers questions on a wide range of subject matter. Other sites such as Healthysparx are more narrow-focused.

Crowdsourcing opinions and guidance for health and wellness information gives patients much more control over their own health care than they ever had before. It also empowers them to help other patients, especially when a question matches their experience or expertise. But, a lot of time answers may be inaccurate, incomplete and inconsistent. And, everyone’s experience can be different.

Pharma has an opportunity on the question sites, especially as patients seek an authoritative voice and accurate information. But, is pharma prepared to participate?

Customers are going to talk and research products so it makes sense for pharma to figure out how to be part of the conversation. A lack of social media guidelines will likely limit participation for the time being, but it doesn’t mean question sites should be ignored.

Pharma can train social media spokespeople to respond with consistent, compliant messages, such as a link back to the company website. Because question sites often show up in the first page of search results, having a presence and quality content can bring patients to other properties such as a branded Facebook page or YouTube Channel.

Right now, the bigger opportunity lies in listening. Even under legal scrutiny, pharma marketers should be tracking and monitoring question sites to gather valuable business insight.

Users reveal data about themselves. What is every marketer looking for? To understand their customer’s pain points. On question sites, users are communicating the problems they’re looking to have solved. Keeping an ear to the ground can pinpoint opportunities for education, new customer segments or product uses or reveal disconnect between product messaging and public perception.

Learn who your influencers are. Who are your most vocal adversaries and advocates? Monitor frequency of occurrence to understand who and what is being posted and to ensure message accuracy. Gain insight into influencers and craft a communication strategy to ensure your products are promoted properly and that consumers have the education they need to make informed decisions.

Connect with people at key decision points. For the mother deciding which cough syrup formula is right for her congested three year old, receiving a coupon or information on how to keep her child comfortable during illness from a brand she trusts could influence a purchase decision. Companies such as New York-based Hunch are developing algorithms to recommend certain products when people pose commerce-related queries. By knowing what patients are asking, pharma companies can respond appropriately and ensure their actions and answers resonate with customer needs.

Pharmaceutical companies have a challenge responding via any social media, but they can get the listening component in place and develop internal social media guidelines that enable them to proceed in a compliant manner.

Any questions?

by Krissy Goelz (@Krisgoelz)

There are two types of people in the world – those who play by the rules and those who bend or break them. When it comes to patient compliance, it’s not quite so clear cut. Even the most responsible by-the-book individuals have moments when they don’t heed doctor’s orders.

Why? Well, it’s human nature.

Recently, physician and author Katrina Firlik explored and debunked the top five medication adherence myths she encounters. Failure to comply – whether that’s following a doctor’s orders, taking medication as directed or filling prescriptions – is an evergreen pain point in healthcare. As long as there are patients, there will be incidence of non-adherence or mal-compliance.

Patient-focused technologies and other technological advancements may be the cure for minimizing non-compliance and improving health outcomes. Whether technology serves as a reminder to take the right dose of medication at the right time or facilitates its delivery, there are tech tools that can drive better health outcomes.

What are some of the issues and how can technology help?

The type of disease or condition predicts non-compliance. Failure to comply isn’t limited to a particular disease class or condition – it runs the gamut from patients needing to complete a course of antibiotics to those requiring daily medication such as cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Rather than rely on sighting the plastic seven-day-a-week pill box, patients can take advantage of high-tech reminders such as call center technology that delivers automated medication prompts to proactively alerts patients to take medication at a defined moment during the day (such as before breakfast).

The poor and undereducated are the biggest offenders. Compliance issues traverse socioeconomic boundaries. Of the 600,000 Americans who have bypass surgeries each year, more than 90 percent are unable to change their lifestyle to mitigate health risks. In the face of do or die, if people aren’t willing to undergo the rigors of change, how can health care professionals move the needle and get patients to understand their critical role in their own care?

Video games can help improve compliance by adding the element of fun to educational materials. An interactive learning environment also gets patients more involved in their care and increases “information stickiness.” Social and mobile technologies can actually help patients form healthy habits either by encouraging healthy behaviors through a supportive network or by using apps that monitor medication and behavioral events.

Patients are forgetful. Sure, some people forget to take their prescriptions, but others simply fail to fill prescriptions in the first place or they don’t refill them as directed. There are multiple reasons why this occurs: failure to realize improvements they’ll experience as a result of taking a particular medication, feeling that they no longer need the drug, cutting medication in half to extend the prescription, financial concerns or simply deciding they don’t want to do it.

For patients taking medication for chronic conditions, reducing the drop-off rate and improving refills can be aided through tech tools such as electronic journals that help them monitor and log side effects or improvements. RFID technology or embedded sensors can impact compliance rates by “beeping” to remind patients to take or refill their prescription as well as sending communication to their health care provider to let them know patients are taking their medication at the right frequency.  In addition to improving patient compliance, it can provide physicians with data to help them better understand events that could have serious health consequences.

Physicians should take the lead. New technologies such as RFID sensors can provide insight into what happens outside the practice, but complying with doctor’s orders is ultimately the patients’ responsibility. However, there are tech tools doctors can use to drive compliance.

Prescribing technology and processing prescriptions electronically can improve compliance rates (no more prescriptions lost at the bottom of a handbag!) by simply automating the process. Drug and patient databases can track activity such as when a prescription was last filled and if it is time for a refill. Physicians (and pharmacists) can lend further support to patients through other forms of electronic communication such as email or text messaging to address patient concerns with prescriptions or simply as another point of contact to keep patients engaged in their own care.

Education, patient reminders and lowering costs are the Holy Grail. Much noncompliance is just the result of humans being humans, whether that’s avoidance, forgetfulness, thinking they know better than their physicians, or lack of instant gratification. Keeping health top of mind whether that’s through iPad apps, mobile reminders or a strong supportive network is the root of compliance and can make the difference between a patient that follows doctor’s orders and one who does not.

Technology can actually help overcome all these challenges, but just like the medication that is prescribed, it will only work if people actually use it.

by Krissy Goelz (@krisgoelz)

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the healthiest one of all?

Imagine if looking in the mirror could reveal more than just the lines on your face or the state of your hair. What if the mirror was magic and could know what medications you needed to take or whether your blood sugar might be low? Wouldn’t it be great if we could improve our health just by looking in the mirror? While that may sound like a scene straight from The Jetsons, that vision could soon become a reality thanks to Magic Mirror technology.

Created by researchers from the New York Times R&D lab, the Magic Mirror combines voice recognition and motion sensing technology with an RFID tag reader. The technology is actually a computer with a reflective surface, creating an interactive information center in the privacy of an individual’s restroom.

How can the Magic Mirror improve health care?

It can keep patients on track– Forget missing doctor appointments or failing to remember to schedule your next mammogram. A calendaring application is available via a touch screen right on the mirror (watch out for finger smudges!) and can help people remember to keep their scheduled appointments, set up a visit with their health care practitioner or take their medication as prescribed.

It puts detailed information about prescriptions at a patient’s fingertips – Forget late night calls to the neighborhood pharmacy to determine drug interactions or to ask if your medication needs to be taken with food. Putting a prescription bottle or OTC medication tagged with an RFID chip on the mirror’s small ledge displays information about the drug such as when and how it should be taken, potential side effects, the prescribing physician’s name and other pertinent details.

It can encourage healthy choices – Not only can virtual technology help users “try on” clothes or visualize different hair colors and style, it can also point to other body issues such as weight gain. Unlike a regular mirror that just reveals your problem areas, the Magic Mirror can pinpoint where weight gain occurred and connect it to potential health concerns. The mirror can also be used by marketers to deliver healthy tips or coupons to inspire purchase.

It helps people stay current with news and events – Most people don’t talk about reading in the bathroom, but it often is a sanctuary for interrupted time used to educate or entertain. With the Magic Mirror, they can get alerts about drug recalls or access breaking news about health trends, prescriptions and more. The NY Times API enables it to deliver its own content such as blog posts, articles and videos, perpetuating anywhere, anytime access to information.

While the technology is still in prototype phase and its general availability has yet to be announced, it’s likely to be affordable with it hits the stores. Reflecting on the way technology has advanced, it’s only a matter of time until the Magic Mirror shows itself on the home front.

by Briana Campbell (@MsMatchGirl)

Here’s the question: How do we help people get healthy and stay healthy?

With all the information that’s available, you’d think it would be a no brainer, right? There are warning labels and public service announcements and calories posted at point of purchase. Yet, people seem not to care. When, for instance, was the last time you heeded the calorie count when popping in for a doughnut? And you smokers (I know there are a few of you reading this), do you read the warning label on that pack of cigarettes? I didn’t think so.

The fact of the matter is that it’s hard to get people to change their habits. And whether it is about sticking to a diet, following a physical therapy regimen, or giving up a bad habit, it’s just not human nature to be so easily changed.

Here’s where we start talking about gamification.

We see gamification entering the marketing landscape in so many instances; it would be ludicrous to believe that it wouldn’t touch those working in the health space. In fact, it’s quite possible that this is an instance where those other marketers can take a glance at our community and find some inspiration to push themselves forward

Yes. We know it’s a buzzword. And we know you’re probably so over it. But, lacking better verbiage, lets talk about how game mechanics can help people with just these problems.

A while back, Buster Benson launched Health Month. I actually remember this, as I had a couple of friends participating. And I remember thinking it seemed pretty silly. Being a self-sufficient and stoic New Englander, joining my friends in a healthy living, no cocktails, exercising game didn’t seem like anything I would want anything to do with. Apparently, a lot of people did. People lost weight and lowered cholesterol levels. They quit smoking and stayed quitters. They, for the most part, got healthier. And Health Month is still going strong. In fact, as we spend more and more time living in online communities, maybe it’s stronger.

Which brings us to something I heard about on On The Media quite recently, Superbetter. It “is specifically designed to create “gameful” incentives to help people recuperate physically and emotionally from injury.” On The Media Correspondent Alex Goldman decided to play along for six weeks, while recovering from a traumatic injury sustained while on his bicycle, and blog about it. Superbetter looks like a really meaningful way to recover, but looking at Goldman’s blog, it also looks like it takes a lot of work.

Here’s the thing I didn’t get when I watched my friends jump on the Health Month bandwagon all those years ago – humans, as social animals, are only boosted by the support of others. And, that support can be competitive of nature. Playing against yourself, your colleague or your friend, it pushes you to do more. To work harder. To be better.

We know we’ve just scratched the surface here. Is there a gaming platform that you see leading the way when it comes to helping people to lead healthier lives? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

In our final interview from the Digital Innovation for Pharma Conference, Darshan Kulkami, principal of the Kulkami Law Firm talks about some of the latest news regarding social media and compliance and what it means for the pharma industry.

Pat Connelly of Millenium the Takeda Oncology Company talks about how his company has used social media to reach millenials while still working within regulatory guidelines.