News roundup
April 25th, 2012 in Breaking News by Brad Einarsen
Neonatal web cams give parents access but are they a liability risk for doctors?
More and more neonatal departments in hospitals are installing webcams so that parents can view their child from any web-connected device (PC, tablet, smartphone). This can help with parental bonding, but some doctors worry about increased liability risk.
“I usually leave it on, or I may move it out of the way. Occasionally, I wave to it, as a way to say hi to parents,” he said. Some staff members leave notes in front of the webcam with messages such as “I just had a bath today,” or “I can’t wait to see you, Mom.”
Klout creates brand hubs for marketers
Brands often want to find the social media influencers that can talk with authority about their products. Other sites such as WEGO Health help pharma marketers find “health activists” to work with, but Klout’s offering is more diversified and algorithmic in its approach.
In the automotive industry, Chevrolet previously launched a program on Klout offering influencers in technology, social media and environmental topics a three-day loan of a 2012 Chevrolet Volt for those with a Klout score of 50 or higher who live within a 30-mile radius of one of six markets.
SMS can improve patient attendance and mood
This story talks about how text messages (SMS) can improve patient healthcare across a number of areas including:
- Psychologists at the University of California-Berkeley found that text messages help people feel more connected and cared for
- Text messages between physicians and patients can help enable a more collaborative partnership
- Text messages significantly reduced non-attendance for appointments
Related news:
- NantWorks, Verizon to mobile enable cancer treatment protocols
- Warm Health offers live chat iOS app to health plans
- Sotera Wireless gets FDA nod for mobile vital sign monitor
Mobile + TV is measurably stronger than each alone
A study looked at how mobile and TV worked together to generate increased awareness:
- Purchase intent for Contraband increased cross-screen viewers from 18% to 31%
- Brand recall for the movie was 69 percent higher for cross-screen viewers compared to TV-only viewers
- Ad recall on TV only was 55%, while cross-screen viewership increased recall to 93%
- Cross-screen viewers also were 160% more likely to recommend the movie to a friend or family member
- Cross-screen was 5.5 times more effective at driving search. Only 4% of TV-only viewers intended to search for Contraband after seeing the ad. That rose 22% for cross-screen viewers.
Social ROI infographic
A cute infographic that shows the most common social media measurements as a solar system.
Some more powerful metrics:
- Coupons and deal redemption
- Net promoter score
- Purchase intent surveys
Ad supported application model gets higher revenue
Practice Fusion, an ad-supported electronic medical records (EMR) company, made the examples in this Business Week article on applications that are blurring the ad-supported vs. subscription-supported revenue models.
Ryan Howard, CEO of Practice Fusion, … A few months later, Howard dropped the price to zero, and he has no regrets. “We have tens of thousands of doctors logged in first thing in the morning,” Howard says. For marketers, “it’s the largest place you can go and reach the health-care community.”
Rodale launches fitness channel on YouTube
Another YouTube channel… yawn. But this isn’t just a small-audience brand creating the channel, this is the largest health and fitness publishers in the US teamed up with Hollywood producers Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun. This is part of YouTube’s push to get quality content and start to compete head to head with the national TV stations and it highlights how important video is becoming to online media.
In related news eMarketer discusses how video and social boost mobile content consumption.
Crowdsourcing R&D dollars for medical research
Given shrinking university budgets and more applicants competing for fewer governmental grants, “crowdfunding science is an idea whose time has come,” Jeff Lapides, founder of ScienceBucks, told MedPage Today. In addition to the need for better financial resources, the “public wants the transparency and involvement that [crowdfunding] offers,” he said.
FDA Roundup
An FDA study on the choices that moderate obese (BMI 30+) patients would make re: surgery risk for gastric bands (Lap Band) and obesity.
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