By Kimberly Reyes (@CommDuCoeur)
What can you do in two hours?
Take a client to lunch perhaps, or make a PowerPoint presentation – maybe cross a few things off your errand list. For a lot of us, two hours isn’t a lot of time, but for those of us who attended Fard Johnmar’s UnNiched breakfast this morning, two hours was enough time for us to make lasting connections, have compelling discussions, voice our opinions, and learn so much from the beyond-enlightening Jane Sarasohn-Kahn.
Here are some of the highlights from this morning’s very special event:
- Jane Sarasohn-Kahn starts off by explaining that mobile health communications is a toddler. “When you have a new baby,” she explains, ” you think their poop doesn’t stink and they’re going to be President.” But having a toddler is different – having a toddler means finally coming to terms with the reality of the situation (which is not to say that your children won’t become President…). We’re past the “honeymoon” period in mHealth and need to consider usability; how are people interacting with their mobile devices, and what do they need that we can build for them?
- There was a poignant moment where someone in the audience pointed out that marketers of mobile health technologies need to reach out to nurses more than doctors. “The nurses will be the ones teaching the patients how to use your application,” she said, “the doctors simply don’t have the time.”
- The audience at UnNiched was a particularly engaged and honest one – from voicing their opinion on the need for healthcare reform (“current legislature demonstrates that Americans don’t care about public health,” and “there is so much diversity in health engagement patterns across the U.S. – we are too fragmented”), to rallying for a solution that implements mobile health technology in underserved or underprivileged communities.
- Paula Murgia asked Jane: “So where are we on the hype curve?” To which Jane responded with a quicklist of case studies of pilot programs and other successful mHealth initiatives that are over the plateau and “already there.”
- “We need a new new FDA.” Jane said during the Q&A session.
After this amazing experience, we’re looking forward to the next breakfast, being hosted by Johnson & Johnson’s Marc Monseau!
