The document discusses the growing use of social networks in the healthcare industry for sharing health information. It outlines four types of healthcare social networks: those founded by individuals to discuss specific diseases, those run by nonprofit organizations, those created by startup companies, and those started by established healthcare/pharmaceutical corporations. The challenges of corporate involvement are addressed, such as managing off-label promotion and adverse event reporting. Transparency, privacy, and not competing with existing networks are recommended.

1. THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY & SOCIAL NETWORKS
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THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

2. THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY & SOCIAL NETWORKS
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Just a year ago, Pew Internet & American
Life Project reported that nearly 113
million Americans were using the Internet
to gather health-related information. It’s
not news that the Internet has become
a magnet for people looking for quick
answers when it comes to health issues,
whether or not the results of searches are
providing them with the best information
on a regular basis.

3. THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY & SOCIAL NETWORKS
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Statistics from JupiterResearch show that almost 80% of people who use the
Internet to “connect with others” also trust peer-created information which can
be found on blogs, podcasts, and social networks.
Today, healthcare-centric social
media encompasses a variety of tools
for people to exchange information
including message boards, chat
rooms and networking Web sites,
such as Facebook and MySpace.
Furthering this effort is the availability
of new platforms for individuals to
create their own social networks
without the need for extensive
technical knowledge, such as Ning,
which provides a customizable social
networking platform for free. Many
of these communities are geared
specifically towards people living
with an illness, which represents an
opportunity as well as a challenge for
organizations wishing to participate in
those groups.
While the Food and Drug
Administration has specific guidelines
for pharmaceutical companies
participating in social networks
regarding off-label promotion and
adverse event reporting, it is possible
to engage with these communities in a
way that furthers company reputation
and allows for patient engagement.
THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY & SOCIAL NETWORKS

4. THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY & SOCIAL NETWORKS
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STARTED BY INDIVIDUALS
Social networks started by individuals have had, by far, the easiest time
maintaining a nonbiased platform because they are fully “user-created.”
Although the information may not always be as accurate as we would like, sites
such as social networks TuDiabetes.com and PlanetCancer.org have gained
popularity and usership simply because they come from people who understand
the community best. Most of these sites are very focused on a particular disease
or condition, such as diabetes or cancer.
While some of these networks offer opportunities for advertising or other
marketing efforts, it is inappropriate to participate as a marketer without stating
your intentions up front and making, at a minimum, the moderating team aware
of your presence. Additionally, the uncontrolled nature of these forums provides
some regulatory risk.
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Nonprofit organizations have definitely seen success, and in some cases,
individuals used their network to form not-for-profit entities (such as
PlanetCancer.org) based on growth and interest of participants. Other not-
for-profit organizations have used their constituents to build an online version
of their offline social network, as exemplified by I’m Too Young For This, an
organization for young cancer survivors.
Independent start-up corporations have also launched several new social
networks, which serve as platforms for smaller disease-focused categories.
Websites such as Dailystrength.org and PatientsLikeMe.com have channels for
dozens of diseases all housed on one website.
One such startup, Disaboom, now reaches thousands of members, is a public
company, and accepts advertising. Members on that site can blog, chat with
other members, participate in message forums, and read news and information
provided by health experts. Additionally, members of the network can produce
There are currently four “types” of social networks with a healthcare focus:
those founded by individuals, those supported by nonprofit organizations, those
created by independent start-ups and those started by established healthcare/
pharmaceutical corporations.
EXAMPLES OF CURRENT HEALTHCARE SOCIAL NETWORKS

5. THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY & SOCIAL NETWORKS
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and publish multimedia content of their own for all to see. While Disaboom is
a for-profit organization that is beholden to shareholders, it has, to date, been
one of the most successful examples of a social network reaching a reasonably
significant audience while carrying a sizable load of advertising and marketing
messages.
CORPORATE MEDIA AND HEALTHCARE ENTITIES
Corporate Media and Healthcare Entities involvement in healthcare-focused
social networks is varied. One of the larger examples to date is Yahoo!’s Health
& Wellness groups site. These resources are usually free, relying on advertising
to support costs and with a strict editorial policy of not allowing advertisers to
influence content.
In October 2007, Pfizer announced a partnership with Sermo, a private social
network exclusively for licensed physicians. Pfizer was looking for a more
efficient way to interact with doctors, and doctors, according to Sermo, were
looking for ways to interact with the pharmaceutical company that didn’t
involve using up precious work hours. Under the new partnership, Pfizer staff
physicians can participate on the network, asking questions and providing new
information. While they can participate in the community, it is reported that if
Pfizer offers comments that are too biased, rebuttals will be given.
Also in 2007, MySpace and Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals launched
Addiction411, in an effort to curb drug abuse and dependency among the 16-25
year old demographic.
In early April 2008, Johnson and Johnson announced that it was purchasing
Children with Diabetes, a twelve-year-old website for parents of children with
type 1 diabetes, which offers a message board and chat room. Although CWD
became a part of J&J, a distinction was made between the family network
and the other pharmaceutical areas, which allows CWD to continue running
advertisements from J&J’s competitors.
While other corporate entities might work their way into the CWD community,
J&J is now perceived as “trusted” within the forums and discussions, in that
the existing users know that the company has to be accountable for anything
it says, writes, or requests. This will most likely become part of the “norm” for
the business community, as leveraging existing groups will prove more valuable
than following the “build it and they will come” mentality that has not been
consistently well-received online.

6. THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY & SOCIAL NETWORKS
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Getting involved in a social network requires significant consideration regarding
several issues.
LEVELS OF INVOLVEMENT
First, the time needed to monitor and
submit off-label and adverse reaction
posts needs to be considered and
weighed against the benefit. While a
“hands-off” approach may be possible
in launching a network with the help
of a third-party, there needs to be
a simple way that the organization
could participate while not being
“responsible” for 100% monitoring of
the discussions. V-Fluence, a partner
of MWW has expertise in just this
issue.
Another factor that should be
discussed early on is that of
competition. For any given industry,
there are established communities of
consumers. Purchasing or partnering
with the community, similar to how
Johnson & Johnson engaged with
Children with Diabetes, allows the
company to become an integral part of
the community without having to start
from square one.
Starting yet another social network
(called YASN by many online
community members) would be
challenging in that you typically
have to win over the community
that may have a heavy presence
elsewhere. Users only have so much
time to spend participating in their
communities of interest, be those
health, family, sports, or news-
related topics. If a user is already on
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and one
other specialized service, and one
or more of those existing platforms
already contains information or some
“organized” fashion of gathering for
people with similar health-related
issues or beliefs, then starting a new
space without first truly involving
yourself in those spaces to assess its
need or even bringing in an “advisory
board” of users from those places,
your social network might fall flat.

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In starting a healthcare
social network, privacy
is the paramount
consideration.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Despite the preponderance of shared personal health information on the
Internet, “sharing” that information with an independent organization vs. a
pharmaceutical/healthcare company is quite a different story. The company
needs to be up front about who owns the site and controls the editorial content.
A detailed conflict of interest policy and clear guidelines on advertising needs
to be developed and available for perusal. Additionally, statements on what kind
of involvement the company will have on the social network need to be readily
available, e.g. will it be passive, active, or minimizal based on the requests of the
participants as a whole.
One thing that corporate entities are seeing consistently across the blogosphere
and social networks is that being 100% transparent works every time. Most
people are happy to hear from an executive of a company that they blogged
about, or have the opportunity to ask questions of a subject matter expert
through a social network, in the way that LinkedIn’s Answers has created
that marketplace for its membership. To the network member, access to your
volumes of data, doctors or other spokespeople is of far more value than overt
messaging that must be waded through.

8. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Mitzi Emrich
Chief Social Media Strategist
646.837.9418 | memrich@mww.com
John Digles
Executive Vice President, General Manager
312.981.8543 | jdigles@mww.com
MWW
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