Patient Engagement

From the Instagram for Doctors to keeping health apps simple: 5 must-read stories from MedCity News this week

How bitter is the pharmaceutical industry over the anti-vaccine quackery of Jenny McCarthy?

After MedCity’s patient engagement conference, it’s no surprise that the central theme on this week’s MedHeads was patient engagement. Take a look at what is important to patients, conversations with Neal Sofian and Susannah Fox and more information that came out of MedCity’s ENGAGE conference.

Watch the broadcast above, but also take a look at the five important topics we reviewed this week.

1. The ‘Instagram for Doctors’ is bringing a whole new meaning to digital health

Digital health is booming on social media, whether it be talking to doctors online or finding out how Twitter can help explain sleep disorders, but what about Instagram?

People who have rare diseases or try to raise awareness share their thoughts through the photo sharing mobile app, but it looks like doctors are stepping up their game in the photo-sharing industry with an app called Figure 1, recognized as the “Instagram for doctors.”

2. Arrest Jenny McCarthy for her anti-vaxxer views? One pharma boss says yes

How bitter is the pharmaceutical industry over the anti-vaccine quackery of Jenny McCarthy? John Castellani, who leads the industry trade group PhRMA, would like to see her in cuffs.

“I am very angry about Jenny McCarthy,” Castellani, PhRMA’s president and CEO, told attendees of the MedCity ENGAGE conference Tuesday in Bethesda, Maryland.

3. The rising tide of cancer drug costs: A splashy infographic

Cancer drug costs are under immense fire of late – particularly because, in our era of proto-precision medicine, we’re still not tailoring therapies to patients with the right level of efficacy. Cancer drugs are currently criticized for their incremental improvement on patient outcomes, particularly when juxtaposed with the skyrocketing rate of price increase.

4. White House aging conference: Don’t assume seniors are technophobic

IT developers, don’t assume that seniors are anti-technology or even technophobic.

“Education is a stronger predictor of Internet usage than age,” Susannah Fox, CTO of the Department of Health and Human Services, said Monday at the White House Conference on Aging.

5. ENGAGE: Keep health apps simple, outcomes-focused

Healthcare app developers take note: “Patients are people. They’re only patients part of the time,” advised Neal Sofian, vice president of engagement and innovation at Vivacity, a wellness subsidiary of Premera Blue Cross in Washington state.

 

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