If you missed the JAN 29th webinar “Achieving Openness: Communicating With People Using Social Networks For Health & Wellness” (hosted by Fard Johnmar) that I blogged about recently, you can now access the audio recording (MP3) and slides (PDF) from the event here: http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com/healthsocnetworks.html.

In addition to the audio/slides, you can also download a copy of a 60+ page report (PDF file), which they refer to in the webinar that covers:

• Information about four major communications strategies health organizations are currently using to engage with social networkers.
• New data that will help health industry executives predict the impact of two-way dialogue with social network users.

NOTE: Be sure to also check out the full list of research and strategy publications (including social media in health/pharma) that Envision offers.

There’s a lot of great advice and suggestions that one can learn from in this webinar, particularly from the Q&A session in the second half of the program. And much of what is discussed can not only be applied to social networks and online communities, but it can also be applied to any health/pharma social media initiative that an organization is thinking about implementing.

Here are some quotes from the webinar:

Fabio Gratton, Ignite Health
To us, being ready means having a plan. So, for companies, we like to say that having a plan starts with having an overarching policy about the rules of conduct and engagement with the social space. In our experience, this really starts from the top and it doesn’t just happen at the level of the brand, or department, or specific campaign initiative; that it should really be a core part of a governing code of conduct for an organization… If your organization is ready, I like to say that it’s like being a parent. We have to understand that having a child doesn’t end when they go to kindergarten, so it’s interesting for us — working with pharmaceutical and biotech companies — many of their discussions center around off-label discussion, adverse event reporting, negative feedback, and so on and so forth, as opposed to what I believe the bigger questions is, which is: What are the requirements — the long term resource requirements for launching a large scale initiative? You don’t build a house for your customers, invite them in to live in it, and then shut of the electricity. And similarly, social media for any organization is really an extension of customer service and we believe that leading folks in the dark can really send a bad message.

Erin Edgerton, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Some of the core pieces, in terms of wanting to have a conversation (we heard a lot about the tonality), you have to really be in a place where your group and your organization feels comfortable with engaging in a conversation. You can’t participate in a social network and only uses the aspects that you think are going to work for the image you want to portray, you really have to be invested in the reasons for why people use that space and use all of those characteristics to the fullest… Start small, build it over time, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. You can learn as you go and definitely think about maintenance and how you’re going to keep the content fresh once you’ve launched it.

Jim Nail, TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony
The whole purpose of social media is the “social” aspect of it; that conversational aspect of it. And that’s really hard for a lot of organizations in all industries to get used to… This is just a very, very different world. And so, part of the preparation for the organization is to set the expectation and educate them that this is a different world. The idea that “the consumer is in control” is sort of a cliche, but it is true. So, your executives and those who will be looking at these initiatives need to be comfortable with the fact that you can’t exactly predict what’s going to happen, but the fact of the matter is… That’s OK. And even if something “bad” happens, if you handle it well, you can actually come out of it much better.

According to the Pharma 2.0 Blog, “Bristol-Myers Squibb provided unrestricted funding to facilitate the launch of a new site for women with advanced breast cancer“.

The Advanced Breast Cancer Community launched in early September offering both an information gateway and social network for the advanced/metastatic breast cancer community…
As one user commented, “Early on in my diagnosis I perused many Internet sites that just left me more confused, scared and depressed than I already was. So I gave up looking. Until something brought me to this site just yesterday. What a great place. I can tell already that this is the place where I want to hang out.”

The site was built by Inspire which “…builds and manages online communities in which thousands of patients, family members and caregivers support and communicate with one another in safe, secure, privacy- protected environments“.

Most Inspire communities are built for free and operate under the auspices of some of the most respected nonprofit health organizations in the US. Our nonprofit partners include such distinguished organizations as the ALS Association, Arthritis Foundation, Lung Cancer Alliance, National Organization of Rare Disorders, and the National Osteoporosis Foundation, among others.

I think it’s a really good sign that pharmaceutical companies are starting to recognize the value and importance that online communities and other social media efforts can have in supporting patients, caregivers, and even healthcare professionals.

In fact, this isn’t first unrestricted grant that I’ve heard of from a pharma company to a non-profit social media initiative. Just a few weeks ago at the Digital Pharma conference, I was speaking with Matt Zachary — Founder and CEO of I’m Too Young For This (i2y) — who told me that Novartis Oncology had provided an unrestricted grant to them for their on and off -line initiatives that support young adults affected by cancer. Looks like they also got support from MGI Pharma, GSK, Schering-Plough and a bunch other non-pharma related organizations (including Heineken!!!).

Here’s a list of various i2y programs that tries to help “…empower young adults affected by cancer by ending isolation, improving quality of life and providing meaningful survivorship“:

• young adult organizations
• scholarships and financial aid
• online forums and chat rooms
• excursions and retreats
• web2.0 social networks
• young adult blogosphere
• coping literature
• books, mags, films and media
• advocacy tools
• cancer creative

Considering that the i2y slogan and campaign is “Stupid Cancer”, you would think that traditionalists would exclude them from funding or even a consideration just by the mere fact that it’s not titled something more “professional” or that many of their efforts are based in social media. So I’m really glad to see that neither the social media aspect nor the slogan has turned off support for this truly important network — well done to the funding bodies for not letting these issues get in the way of initiatives that really work and really support a good cause!

As Sermo continues to grow and gain popularity among (verified) physicians, they have continued to expand their list of services to include things like CME, publications access (e.g. Nature and AMA), and even clinical trial recruitment. However, from my personal understanding of their business, they have no intention to stray away from their core competency; namely the physician-only market.

Hence, it’s with no surprise that others looking at Sermo’s success have tried to model this closed, vertical approach towards healthcare professionals (HCPs), such as Medscape’s Physician Connect.

And in similar fashion, Clinician 1 — a social networking community website — officially launched last week with a focus on Nurse Practiioners (NPs) and Physicians Assistants (PAs). Here’s an excerpt from the PharmaExec.com article:

Clinician 1 is a Facebook-style social networking site targeted to the 200,000 physician and nurse practitioners that prescribe drugs in all 50 states. It features personal information pages, medical education, and areas to facilitate two-way conversations between like-minded clinicians.

“We found that as we looked at ways to serve the informational and social needs of both these professions, a social network/community was needed,” said Dave Mittman, physician assistant and co-founder of Clinician 1… The site highlights different categories based on medical specialties and interests. Everything from retail clinicians, parenting issues, and military PAs are represented on the site. Also, much like you can pick friends in Facebook or Myspace, you can choose colleagues on Clinician 1. The site also includes about 50 hours of free continuing medical education, a repository of articles, and streaming news feeds.

This makes a lot of sense as market demand (read: pharma) extends to non-physician HCPs as well, so one can now potentially tap into this group of HCPs in a similar manner to Sermo, though I am not sure of their business model just yet (and I don’t think they do either). The article goes on to say…

Knowing that PAs and NAs are some of the top drug prescribers in the industry, pharma would do well to pay close attention for future opportunities. Clinician 1 does not currently have any pharma sponsors, but Mittman and Falk are looking at the possibility of sponsorship.
Obviously, social networks have been a sticking point with pharma companies.

“At this point, we are unsure as to what pharma wants to do and what the FDA wants to do with social community sites that have people possible speaking about unapproved indications and adverse reactions,” Mittman said. As of now, FDA has issued no regulations as to how pharma should proceed in regards to either establishing or taking part in a social network.

The other interesting thing about Clinician 1 is that it’s exclusive to NPs and PAs only — no physician allowed. Based on my interactions with physicians and other HCPs over the years, and particularly from my experience in a Continuing Medical Education (CME) agency, I can understand why the founders made it this way… I think it is definitely the right choice. Here’s what was said about this:

Most importantly, Mittman and his partner Spencer Falk believed that the site should not have physicians on it. To enroll in the site, potential members must include their state license number and sign a digital affidavit swearing to their identity as a PA or NA.

“Nurse practitioners and PAs have their own special needs regarding things like running a clinic in rural areas, barriers to practice, hospital privileges—many of the things that physicians take for granted and wouldn’t see any merit in reading,” Mittman said. “PAs and NAs tend to feel invisible within the healthcare system.”

It will be interesting to follow the growth of Clinician 1 and what business models they decide to adopt in order to sustain their growing network. Furthermore, I wonder if they could potentially be snapped up by a larger organization (Medscape?) in due time. Whatever happens, it’s great to see growth in this vertical social network area within medicine!