Adverse Event reporting in the context of social media

Adverse Event reporting in the context of social media - Presentation Transcript

Adverse event reporting in the context of social media The implication and reality of social conversations in online health communities Paul R. Grant Head of Strategy Implementation Creation Interactive - the engagement strategy consultancy

For the people, by the people Social media is a knowledge sharing revolution that is driven by people, not technology. The fundamental premise is not new at all. People have always wanted to... • listen to and tell stories • belong and participate in a community • share and be recognised when they contribute • find answers and ask questions These unique characteristics of humanity have always been the same. Social media technologies simply make the conversation sharing faster and more widespread.

Online health consumers Online health consumers (OHC's) participate openly and transparently in social media channels, because they... • care about their health and well-being • want to self-educate about conditions, symptoms, drugs, support etc. using the Internet • want to share their experiences to help others • trust conversations with other people in a similar situation to themselves OHC's are in this way empowered, informed, and interested in taking control of their own life.

Social media in healthcare Online health consumers are twice as engaged in social media as other consumers. They typically... • leverage and locate information sources o 59% of adults use online resources to obtain health information o 55% go to their doctors o 29% talk to relatives, friends or co-workers • share online health information with others o 75% share the health information they discover online o 34% use Wikipedia, online forums and message boards for health • learn about multiple conditions and symptoms o 84% of health searchers turn to online social spaces to educate themselves about a disease or a condition o 66% of online adults have used general search engines (e.g. Google, Yahoo!, MSN and Ask) to find health-related information

User generated contributions OHC's demonstrate inherent trust in social media. They share personal and sensitive user generated content. Using diabetes as an example, there are already... • More than 3000 diabetes groups on Yahoo! • Over 41,000 photos tagged as diabetes in Flickr • More than 4,000,000 diabetes forum discussions • More than 4,000 views per day (on average) of the Wikipedia diabetes page • Nearly 50,000 resolved questions about diabetes in Yahoo! Answers • 1,000's of diabetes related groups in Facebook

'Global' health communities Global health communities consist of many online health consumers, from all corners of the world. For every individual content creator (or influencer) in these non- territorial communities, there are... • Approximately 10 people active in commenting, sharing, rating, or reacting • Approximately 100 people consuming by reading, watching, listening, and enjoying • Wider and interconnected global health communities which syndicate and re-broadcast the message in various formats - sometimes inaccurately

The influence of popular opinion Consider the impact that any one influencer has within a global health community. They can effectively sway popular opinion for or against a pharmaceutical brand or product, reaching throughout the world! • They talk about the brand and products already • Hundreds and thousands of targeted and interested consumers listen or are influenced in perpetuity • Consumers often only read an opinion, but comprehend it as fact • The masses rarely get balanced information because pharmaceutical companies are noticeably absent in the conversation

Adverse event reporting One reason why pharmaceutical companies do not participate in social media conversation, is their obligation to adverse event (AE) reporting mechanisms. Hence it is common to... • perceive AE in social media as too time consuming, laborious, and complicated • be wary of regulatory action, or of competitor perceptions which result in negative publicity • think that social media will create a torrent of AE's • err on the side of caution, rather than try to embrace the platform which the masses have already accepted

The guidelines covering AE's The ABPI guidelines for collecting adverse events, specify that there is minimum information required to record an adverse event: – An identifiable Healthcare Professional reporter o The reporter may be identified by name or initials, address or qualification (e.g. physician, dentist, pharmacist, nurse) – An identifiable Patient o The Patient may be identified by initials, patient number, date of birth, age, age group or sex. – At least one suspected active substance/medicinal product – At least one suspected adverse event

The reality of social media AE's In most cases, online health consumers do not provide enough information using social media, to constitute an adverse event report. Only 1 of 500 cases in the research* meet ABPI criteria * Nielsen Online, August 2008

The benefit for pharmaceuticals The benefits of participating in social media, outweigh the responsibilities of AE reporting. For pharmaceutical brands, it provides a unique opportunity to... • Understand consumer perception of the brand • Reveal gaps in consumer product awareness • Discover the concerns and needs of the end user • Build trust and openness with online health consumers and the traditional media • Locate champions, advocates, and influencers who will promote the brand, the products... • ...and ultimately increase or maintain sales

Embracing social media For any pharmaceutical considering moving into social media as a communication platform... • Choose an independent digital engagement strategy partner, not your 'creative agency' or 'media buyer' • Workshop and outline your tangible strategic objectives • Think globally - the Internet doesn't respect territories • Consider how and what measurable indicators will be in place to monitor the outcomes • Ensure organisational buy-in and suitable training so that staff are equipped to interact and respond appropriately • Implement a continuous improvement methodology so that you can listen, learn and improve over time

Bibliography and links The following are useful related resources on the issue of social media and Adverse Event reporting for pharmaceutical companies: • Social Media: Pharmaceutical Marketing in the Age of Engagement http://tinyurl.com/lsmxoa • Listening to Consumers in a Highly Regulated Environment http://tinyurl.com/ ma58uu • ABPI Guidelines for collecting Adverse Events http://bit.ly/2TB6W8 • How America Searches: Health and wellness http://tinyurl.com/ncq5y6