The FDA might be accidentally brilliant.
Every now and then for the past several years, that thought has crossed my mind. Without context, it may seem like a strange conclusion to make about any government agency. For anyone who was there in DC on November 12, 2009 when the FDA held their first public hearing on social media marketing – this conclusion would seem even stranger.
On that day dozens of speakers (including myself) shared our ideas for how to regulate online healthcare communications. Unfortunately, for years after those hearings the FDA moved slowly and was roundly criticized for not acting on the recommendations. Yet over time I started to realize that the most impressive impact from that day was probably never meant to be any new guidance or legislation.
Sometimes the short term outcome is less important than the long term connections.
Those two days in DC were a moment when a long list of individuals passionate about the future of digital health all gathered in one place. I met or made a more personal connection to the work of people like ePatient Dave, Fabio Gratton, Shwen Gwee, Jonathan Richman, Dr. Daniel Palestrant, John Mack, James Allen Heywood, Joel Selzer and Marc Monseau (see the full list of speakers). And since that gathering, many of us have stayed in touch and gathered on several occasions with many others doing amazing work in this space.
Today, I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be collaborating with Fard Johnmar, another digital health pioneer who I met at those hearings to write a new ebook about the future of healthcare from the point of view of the connected patient. Fard is a digital health marketer, founder of Enspektos, and Fellow at the prestigious Society for New Communications Research. In addition, he also created the enmoebius online healthcare research platform which collects data on the digital healthcare landscape and patient behaviour. Here’s some more information about the new ebook, including details on how you can get it for free …
What Is ePatient 2015 About?
If there is one goal everyone in healthcare is reaching towards – it is becoming more patient-centric. Hospitals and providers talk about it. Pharma researchers do as well. More than ever, the patient is at the center of every discussion about the future of healthcare … even if reality hasn’t quite caught up to that amibition.
ePatient 2015 is a research based report that will bring together NEW original data with curated ethnographic research into evolving patient behaviours and innovations in healthcare.
The book will reveal a range of surprising digital health trends, including the rise of the Human Button, Empathetic Technology and CrowdCounselling. It will also feature new data from Enspektos’ groundbreaking research initiative digihealth pulse. In addition to the research, the book will outline some of the implications these trends will have on healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, government and any patient or caregiver’s personal quest to understand and navigate the healthcare system of the future.
What Makes ePatient 2015 Different?
Over the past five years, there have been many books about the present and future of healthcare. Most fit into six categories – which are outlined in the graphic below. The singular idea behind this report is to bring these disparate categories of healthcare information together into a single cumulative report that can not only help healthcare organizations prepare to serve the connected patient of the future, but also to aid in the ongoing empowerment of patients by shining a spotlight on some of the biggest shifts to watch for in the coming 18 months as we head towards 2015.
How Can You Receive A Copy For Free?
Register for our mailing list and you’ll be the first to know when the book is published. You’ll also receive a range of bonus benefits, including:
- Early (and FREE) access to this ebook before it is released to the world
- Exclusive commentary from Rohit and Fard on the trends and their implications for the digital health present and future
- An invitation to two invitation-only Webinar and Q&A sessions with the authors
Be the first to know – join our mailing list at www.epatient2015book.com >>
Dave, Fabio, Shwen, Jonathan, Daniel, John, James , Joel and Marc (see the pattern?)
Sadly it doesn’t look at that “different” in one respect – I don’t see any or very many voices of women despite their domination of both the provision of health care and social media. As long as marketing and tech geeks dominate the patient centered design conversations we will be leaving out a huge part of the audience / creators/ providers.
Also just as an FYI – many health care organizations have been doing patient centered health care for the past 60 years (group health, Kaiser etc)
Hi Sherry – thanks for your comment, and for sharing this important reminder. Those names happen to be the folks who I actually met in person at the FDA hearings, but they don’t represent the full range of the conversation. I’m following you now and as we work on the research for the book, your point will be top of mind for me so we make sure it’s not just another reflection of the healthcare industry or epatient movement from a single perspective. If you are open to it, I’d be honored to share an early draft of the report with you when we have it to get your insights (and credit you for them, of course). In the meantime, thanks for taking the time to comment here.