Medical data which is presented to patients is often impenetrable, scary and hard to understand. In this excellent TED talk by Thomas Goetz, the argument is made that it doesn’t have to be like this!

A brief synopsis:

• How behavioural science can be used to change patient behaviour.
• Current trends in the display of medical / pharmaceutical data.
• Simple ways to make these readable, relevant and useful.

Since the iPad was launched just a few months ago,  people have been marveling at the impact it may have on our future, and the way we think about using IT in our daily lives.  Naturally, considering the apparent similarities in shape and size to a clipboard, healthcare seems one of the most apparent application areas for the iPad.

Already many doctors use their iPhones to access knowledge resources and e-mail while doing their rounds in the hospital, so it stands to reason that the iPad has some appeal. It boasts all the same applications that the iPhone offers, as well as more “Desk space” – larger views of x-rays or anatomical schematics in order to explain procedures to patients. Read on…

With the Google Chrome OS coming out later this year, “working in the cloud” is becoming a serious option for many private users looking to manage documents, images, and everything else from any computer with internet access.

While this may be an option for the private user, what about the big-money spenders – the businesses? Can cloud computing, like Google Docs, make real time collaboration on documents effortless not only within your own organisation, but also with clients and customers? What about governance, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, security? Can Google as the more cost-efficient service beat the services SharePoint offers?

As often within the IT industry, the answer is not simply black or white, but rather depends on where you stand. Read on…

Healthcare providers are finally opening up to social media – and it’s about time. I wrote recently about the Gardasil campaign, and now we have the UK NHS opening their own Facebook page: Say Yes To The Test.

Say Yes To The Test is a campaign to inform people about chlamydia, supported by the NHS website. At the time of writing, the Facebook page has been live for around two weeks and has over 36,000 fans. Given that the average Facebook user has 130 friends and that every new sign-up displays on all of a user’s friends’ profiles, the page has potentially reached 4.7 million users.

Read on…

Nothing kills the authority of an intranet site – or any website – faster than obvious, avoidable errors. These errors can be factual (such as job titles or general facts), graphical (the wrong image assigned to the wrong person, for example) or grammatical (bad spelling or punctuation), but whatever the mistakes the effect is the same: users go elsewhere.

It’s not enough to make sure that your site owner is thorough. Everyone makes mistakes, and the best way to cope with the possibility of a slip-up is to ensure that you have a dedicated quality control process in place at all times. If you use an agency to run your site, then they should be able to work this out with you. If you work on the site yourself, read on for some key areas that you should focus on…

Read on…

Social media: it’s the ‘in thing’ for marketing departments around the world. But not all campaigns are created equal, and the internet is a fickle place. What works for one campaign might not for another, and ideas quickly get stale.

We’re always impressed with creative uses of social media, and this year we’ve seen some incredibly inventive ideas. Keep reading to find out about three of our favourite campaigns of 2009, and one of the worst. Don’t forget to let us know about your favourites in the comments!

Read on…

Social Media is undeniably a powerful tool in the hands of patients, enabling them to give immediate feedback to doctors, pharmacists and marketers.

Patients are able to exchange vast amounts of information and insight into their conditions through a range of social media tools, providing valuable perspectives. For example, people who suffer from diabetes can engage with online communities and cover areas related to their condition, such as how successful their medication or glucose meters are. Discussions like these provide a support network for patients and allow healthcare providers to listen and engage with their target audiences.

Read on…

More and more healthcare companies are building their presence on Twitter. Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Roche, Astra Zeneca, GE Healthcare and Boehringer Ingelheim are all tweeting and being tweeted at. Some companies are even using Twitter to promote specific branded treatments: Novo Nordisk call attention to their Novolog and Levemir diabetes treatments.

In spite of all the hype surrounding Twitter, it looks like these early adopters might be on to something. Whilst still small in comparison to Facebook, Twitter offers something unique: it attracts a lot of content creators and critics – the minority of people who actually create content on the internet as opposed to the majority who merely browse and consume content. These creators are the ones most likely to discuss your brand, either on Twitter itself or on other social networks, such as blogs, message boards, YouTube and so on. For companies, the benefit of Twitter is clear: it’s about seeding your message to the creators so that it finds its way all over the web. It’s all about PR.

Read on…

It’s been revealed that the White House hired a social marketing firm to distribute mass emails and unsolicited spam to sell President Obama’s health care plan. Millions of Americans received emails and read blogs, without realising they were reading well crafted marketing messages manipulating them to support the Government’s agendas, programs and legislations.

Read on…

Nutricia, the company that owns the Cow & Gate and Aptamil baby formula brands recently got rapped by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority for magazine ads which claimed their milks could “support” the immune system. The ASA said that this sort of claim could only be substantiated with robust evidence. Baby formula brands are subjected to all sorts of regulations regarding the promotion of their milks. But how does this extend to pay-per-click search advertising? Read on…