SEO Werkt!

Another set of fantastic quotes from the floor of the ePatient conference. Read the best of Day 1 here.

1. “The idea that I can pretend I know everything is just wrong. There is huge power in being willing to say I don’t know. Let’s look it up together.” – Danny Sands, MD, on how medicine needs to open up to empowered patients
2. "“I wanted to understand the literature as well or better than any physician I would go to see” – Craig Lipset, Pfizer, on his own experience as an ePatient
3. "…And expect the patients, now informed and comprehending,
   To sit idly by awaiting your instructions?" – part of a poem delivered by patient advocated Regina Holliday
4. "Health activists are the top 10% of epatients, reaching 15,000 patients on average." – Jack Barrette, with WEGO (Cool quote but I'm a little dubious of his overall POV – one of his slides showed the "1% Rule" – data date: 2006. Forrester has updated that to almost 25%)
5. “Our generation of physicians was never satisfied not communicating well with people. These tools give people choices and an ability to be there with patients.” – Ted Eytan, MD, MPH, Kaiser Permanente, on why better tools make practicing medicine more fulfilling
6. “Because of this site, now I know what my doctor is talking about”- Jeanne Barnett, CysticFibrosis.com on what community members say to one another
7. "Are we expecting them to broadcast that they like their herpes medicine … and then someone to comment back?" – Jonathan Richman, Dose of Digital Blog, Bridge Worldwide, on the limits of what pharma can really expect from social sharing
8. “I’m not in the business of changing systems; I’m in the business of helping people use the system as it is.” – Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent, on what it takes to navigate the healthcare system today
9. “It would be nice to talk about sex and stuff with a doctor who hasn’t known me since I was seven years old” – one simple, but really powerful line, from Novartis' Becoming Christopher film
10. "Instead of trying to tell an entire story in one commercial – what about a series of three?"- Jonathan Mayberry, author of Patient Zero, on how to make better connections in advertising

Seth Quillin (the EVP of innovation in GSW's digital lab) and I were in Philadephia this week for ePatient 2010 – a conference that brings together lots of people like us who are dedicated to reaching, engaging and educating epatients and caregivers. Who are they? Patients and caregivers who’ve become empowered and engaged advocates for their own care through the social web and connected communities.

We were both live blogging from the conference floor on WhatsYourDigitaliQ.com, but of all the great talks we heard, these are the essential ideas -

Ten big ideas from Day 2:

1. Medicine is moving online (fast). Kaiser Permanente has over 3 million people enrolled in its online health management system. In the second quarter, those people sent over 2.6 million emails to their physicians. 
2. Pharma's selling cycle hurts digital investments: Product launches inspire big investments, but they're often quickly abandonned once a list is built or a product matures. Patients don't trust that pharma-sponsored destinations will be/stay there.
3. Big trend in wellness = powerful sensors. Products like Zeo let engaged patients be active participants in their own health. More engaged patients need better tools.
4. Medicine will only change by example. Docs have four years of medical school. That sounds like a long time until you think – the amount of medical information doubles every 3-5 years. Docs have a lot to learn and keep learning. New skills (like writing, video conferencing, sharing) can't be taught that way (what would be left out to teach them?)  We need to get to a critical mass of doctors who think this way and practice this way to teach by example.
5. We're ready for quick response: Kurt Mueller at Roska Digital said that 45% of US is QR ready; 95%, Japan; 75%, Europe
6. Your competition online isn't other products. It's everything else on the internet. People are watching the Family Guy on Hulu, not camping out on your competitor's new blog.
7. Medical journalism is "sideways." Twenty years ago, medical journalists tended to open their advance copies of JAMA and New England Journal of Medicine to write stories. The medical news was top down. Now personal stories reflect bigger challenges in navigating the healthcare system.
8. Nonspecific guidance IS coming. Barabara Chong from DDMAC reported that the agency will release multiple rounds of online and social guidance – the first of which should come out this year. But, the guidance will be general, not targeted to specific destinations, like Facebook
9. We need to think about ePatients when we design clinical trials. The big opportunities are making them more participatory (enroll from anywhere) and more patient centric (share clinical data back with enrolled patients to allow them to increase their own health and wellness or decrease their medical costs)
10. Storytelling breaks through. Novartis reported that 78% of docs were motivated to change their behavior after seeing a film about life with cystic fibrosis. The difference? Real storytelling that followed the three-act format of compelling entertainment (The three acts)

Also see: Ten big ideas (Day 1)

Most of these sites have an area where people can buy an ‘ad’ promoting them so people can follow them, similar to the one on the right. Twice now on different sites I have seen people that I know and am following, that have bought ads for themselves so that others will follow them.

Now personally, I would never do this, and what irks me about this is that in both cases, these are people that are acknowledged as being ‘social media experts’. And these people regularly trumpet the value of social media as a way to authentically engage with people. And yes, they are often propped up for their large number of Twitter followers.

Which it appears, at least in part, they have bought.

And I don’t want to mention who these people are, because I don’t want the discussion to revolve around them, but rather what they are doing. As I said, I could never do this, and it feels inconsistent to me with their message that building networks authentically is what works.

But maybe I am off my rocker. Do I need to just accept that ‘biggest number wins’, and realize that I need to do whatever is necessary to inflate my number of followers/readers/friends in order to appear more ‘credible’?

What do you think? How would you feel if someone that you viewed as a ‘social media expert’ had ‘bought’ half of their 50,000 Twitter followers? Would you be outraged, or would you think they were making smart use of the existing business environment? Is this just another sign that Twitter is all just a ‘numbers game’?

What's a conference without great turns of phrase and new buzz words that you can totally make you own?

Here are some of the sticky little maxims that I know I'll be borrowing:

1. "Mobile has a multiplier effect" – Susannah Fox, Pew Internet & American Life Project on the activating effect of mobile (People with mobile devices are more likely to comment, to contribute, to participate in the online conversation)
2. "The interface of healthcare is broken" – Ben Sawyer, Digital Mill, on why the frontend interactions (in person, online, in game) we have with healthcare, in short, suck
3. "Pervasive equals persuasive" – David Rose, VItality GlowCaps, on why we need to spread information thinly throughout people's lives
4. “The obligation of the cured” – Lance Armstrong’s oncologist Dr Craig Nichols on Lance’s role post remission. In short: if you can make an impact, you must make an impact
5. "In August, 28% of visitors to health and wellness websites were 55+" (Index 129) – hot little fact from Heather Dougherty, Hitwise. Yeah, you read right – people of all ages are digital.
6. "We call ourselves social anthropologists – a lot of artifacts can lead to insights" – Reid Connolly in an otherwise very awkward presentation about evoke interaction
7. "Advice doesn’t change behavior" – Victor Strecher,  HealthMedia, on why storytelling matters
8. "There's a huge disconnect between our long-term aspirations and moment-to-moment choices" – Margaret Morris, PhD, Intel Digital Health Group on the tension between diet and health (or: why we have no collective resolve)
9. "Laugh, Sing and Eat Like a Pig" e-Patient Dave's self Rx for fighting cancer
10. “There’s an opportunity to make interactions with healthcare devices a lot more delightful” – just another well said moment from David Rose

Joe Shields, Director of Worldwide Innovation at Pfizer, came to ePatient 2010 to ask for our crowdsourced help. He's starting a new job on Monday where his chief responsibility will be to recast his company's role in healthcare. He knows that truly advocating for the patient is different from marketing to them. And, he knows he wants those patients at the center.

But, where to focus?
What are the key questions in eHealth?
Who should he talk to?

Joe really wants answers. If you've got one – finish the following sentence and email it to Joe.Shields @ Pfizer [dot] com

In the next six months, Joe should focus on ________________.

He's pledged to read all the emails. So start typing.

Seth Quillin (the EVP of innovation in GSW's digital lab) and I are in Philadephia for ePatient 2010 – a conference that brings together lots of people like us who are dedicated to reaching, engaging and educating epatients and caregivers. Who are they? Patients and caregivers who’ve become empowered and engaged advocates for their own care through the social web and connected communities.

We both did a slew of live blogging from the conference floor (you can read those detailed posts at WhatsYourDigitaliQ.com). I guess this would be called slightly delayed blogging – the kind you reflect on in the hotel bar.

Ten big ideas from Day 1:

1. The new ROI for pharma is sustained behavioral change. Every speaker I heard today talked about it.
2. We have new opportunities today to reach people where they really are. Ben Sawyer, Digital Mill mentioned a really compelling example: New York state is looking at how to put the emergency broadcast system into Xbox Live because that’s what people are interacting with in real time
3. When it comes to games (for health or entertainment) perceived competence is a big barrier and also a big myth. Two presenters showed how quickly most people pick up games – once they stop saying "I can't."
4. Healthcare is increasingly focused on innvoation outside the research lab. We met Joe Shields – the new innovation chief at Pfizer. The announcement of his new global innovation role mirrors similar recent hires at J&J, Lilly and elsewhere along the cooridor.
5. Challenge for innovators is designing information into the things around us; changing daily behavior with packaging. In a case study about GlowCaps, David Rose showed how something as simple as a night light can bump adherence from 71% to 98%
6. The age of ubiqutous peer influence is over. Susannah Fox, Pew Internet & American Life Project, and others talked about how much more balanced the value we put on inputs is today – 9:10 people say healthcare professional are the most valuable source for getting an accurate diagnosi; 5:10 say HCPs for daily tips and advice (same number as friends, family, other expert patients); vast majority choose friends, family, other patients for emotional support
7. Making stories and messages more personal really has an impact. Victor Strecher with HealthMedia showed case studies from campaigns that connected people's personal core values to desired changes in behavior. He not only showed head-to-head compare stats, but also MRI scans. The more tailored the message, the more likely to activate the medial prefrontal cortex – the decision making part of the brain – and the precuneus – where ideas are attached to long term memory. Real science? Totally cool.
8. We need to pass on valuable communities. 4,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every day. Tools like CaringBridge can make that terrible diagnosis easier for almost everyone. The weight on the shoulders of people with cancer isn't just fear, it's figuring out how to tell and support their loved ones.
9. Big trend for 2011 is providing value to patients beyond pills. Brian O’Donnel from Klick talked about the big market pressures on pharma (the elephant: end of the blockbuster drugs) and figuring out how to support brands in this new climate
10. Love this one >> Myth: patient communities are all about sharing and emotional suppor; Fact: they see themselves as being about science, about making people better. Not about hugs. Here here. (Susannah Fox, Pew Internet & American Life Project)