What if there was a device that could help diagnose the onset of dementia better than anything that’s currently available today? Or, if it can indicate the onset of Parkinson’s 5 to 10 years before it shows up clinically? What if that same device can also help change your behavior towards a better and healthier lifestyle? Would you want it? Read Full Entry
Monthly Archive for March, 2010
Cisco’s launch of the CRS-3 router was noteworthy for pharma.
Why care about … a router? This one downloads the entire Library of Congress in 1 second, or every movie ever made in 4 minutes. Read Full Entry
Fun and play have always been great impetus when inspiring innovation; it is also a great way to learn about a new technology and give it a good test run or workout.
This particular project from a group of Carnegie Mellon Students is a prime example.
It’s Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) on the Microsoft Surface platform. Now, whether you’re into role playing games or not, the thing to take notice from this video is the ease of game play that’s been implemented using Microsoft’s Surface technology. It’s unobtrusive and makes it easy for multiple people to collaborate—I mean “play”—with each other.
The point to take away from this is that the visual interaction with an intuitive interface makes it easy for two or more people to work towards a common goal. What if doctors and patients interacted and collaborated on the Surface platform? Would we find more enriching interaction? Technically both doctor and patient are from the same guild working toward a same thing, which is fighting disease and preserving health.
Here’s a more “behind the scene” video.
For more examples of how surface is being used around the world, check out the Microsoft Surface Blog.
And for those you who may be interested, here is a link on How to Play Dungeons and Dragons.
Two members of our digital innovation team are published elsewhere on the web today (with can’t-miss content, of course)
Read Damon Caiazza’s pointers on how sales reps can be a better partner to HCPs (and get better access doing it) on Pixels and Pills:
And Leigh Householder’s take on why every pharma brand should invest in a social media crisis plan at MedAdNews:
In a report issued yesterday, the Pew Internet & American Life project uncovered some more bad news for people living with chronic disease:
Not only do they often have complicated health issues, not easily solved by the addition of even the best, most reliable, medical advice. They are also disproportionately offline – lacking access to both the knowledge and support so many of us turn to the internet for.
The numbers are jarring. 81% of people with no chronic conditions are online vs. only 52% of people with two or more conditions.
The issue of lack of equitable access is made even more complex by changes in physician behavior. Doctors increasingly rely on the internet to supplement their patients’ knowledge and understanding. Last year, Manhattan Research reported that 58% of physicians recommend specific websites to their patients (not suprisingly, WebMD is at the top of their list).
There is some good news. Once people with chronic diseases do go online they are more likely to blog or participate in online discussions about health problems. They are gathering on big patient networking sites like PatientsLikeMe, HealthCentral, Inspire, CureTogether and Alliance Health Networks, and on small sites started by patients on networks like Ning and Wetpaint. They’re more active contributors in that health space – both about the personal issues associated with their condition and specific health problems.
People with chronic diseases are often more inspired than others by the information they found. The report includes verbatims like these: one person wrote, “[An] online support group helped me learn about the disease and provided comfort in knowing that my symptoms were not ‘just in my head,’ and helped me take steps to adjust to living with a chronic condition.” Another shared, “I live in a small town and it is helpful to be able to use the internet to find others that have the same condition as I do.”
Getting patients access to this kind of support can be life changing. The opportunity to do that can come from both sides of the equatation:
- More access: Through, for example, internet devices in waiting rooms
- More interest: A clearer picture for offline patients about what resources and tools they’ll find (specific to their disease state) online
