Here’s an interesting play on healthcare social media. Despite the fact that pharma has been largely absent from Pinterest, a media company that provides drug information crowdsourced from pharmacists is turning to the social media outlet to spread its medication-related content.
Texas-based media company RxWiki provides social media services to community pharmacists and condition- and medication-specific content to consumers, with the goal of improving patient education, informed decision-making and medication adherence.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Its most interesting offering, though, is the medication encyclopedia created and edited by licensed pharmacists, who translate medication guides and FDA alerts into 8th grade-level language that patients can understand. According to the company, the encyclopedia contains constantly-updated information on more than 550 FDA-approved compounds, over-the-counter medications and supplements.
To bring more eyes to the site, the company has launched a Pinterest campaign that it calls a visual medication encyclopedia, comprising 75 boards. The pins link back to the company’s entries. It’s an interesting concept, but I wonder, would people go to Pinterest to find medication information, especially when Big Pharma has a minimal presence there?
“We believe Pinterest’s pictoral navigation is a great user experience,” CEO Don Hackett wrote me in an email. “We are integrating this navigation into our own websites.”
In a press release issued today, the company quotes pharmacist and editor Beth Bolt saying, “Pinterest adds a visual element that enables patients to more easily find and learn about their medications. RxWiki’s Pinterest page helps me to educate patients through fun and interesting pictures they can share with their friends and family.”
As of today, the company’s account has 525 followers. It will be interesting to see whether RxWiki finds success on Pinterest. Perhaps it could be a good case study for pharma companies that are unsure of the social platform’s value.
RxWiki was founded in 2009 and is owned by Patient Conversation Media Inc. and its employees.
