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6 Ways Pharma May Use Social Media

This article is more than 8 years old.

Although social media is nearly ubiquitous at this point, pharmaceutical firms still struggle to varying degrees with how to use social media while complying with rules and regulations that govern communications with the public, consumer and patient.

However, according to Dr. Kevin Campbell MD, FACC, social media is an ideal channel for pharmaceutical and device firms to educate, market, listen and connect with customers, patients and physicians .

Dr. Campbell is an internationally recognized Cardiologist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of heart rhythm disorders. Dr. Campbell is the Medical Expert for WNCN and appears weekly on the NBC17 morning news and also makes frequent appearances nationally on Fox News, CBS , and HLN. Unlike most physicians, he is an enthusiastic user of social media and you can follow him on Twitter @DrKevinCampbell.

This is the latest in a series of our lively conversations about the use of social media in healthcare and the pharma industry.

Belbey: How can pharmaceutical firms use social media effectively, while complying with the rules and regulations?

Dr. Campbell: Pharmaceutical and device firms can use social media to educate, market, listen to and connect with customers, patients, and physicians, all while complying with industry regulations. Some approaches to consider include:

  1. Education: Firms may offer disease-specific educational information aimed at consumers. This information should present topics broadly and be relatively non-biased. The goal is to help patients understand their disease so that they may better engage with their healthcare providers to improve outcomes.
  2. Marketing: Social media can be used as another channel of communications to share press releases on new drugs, devices, features, clinical trial results, etc. Social media also can help the industry “toot their own horn” and build trust when it comes to community service, major investments in charities and their commitment to develop new and better treatments for a particular disease process.
  3. Connection with Customers/Patients: One powerful way the industry can use social media is to create patient support groups and communities. These allow like-minded patients to connect and interact—often discussing the benefits of a particular treatment, hospital, doctor, etc.
  4. Connection with Physician-Customers: Pharma can conduct Twitter chats with physician-customers, an efficient means of education without the expense (and annoyance) of drug reps in the office disrupting the flow of a busy day with patients. Pharma can engage a large number of physicians at one time with pharma’s own best and brightest scientists and researchers. This would be a great opportunity to ask questions rather than be “detailed” about a drug by a rep that is simply regurgitating a memorized script concerning a new study to the physician-customer (who has most likely already read it).
  5. Clinical trials: One of the biggest barriers (and expenses) to the completion of a clinical trial is enrollment. Nearly 30% of time is spent on recruitment and almost 40% of sites miss enrollment targets. I believe that social media can become a powerful enrollment tool. A recent study showed that social media can effectively bolster enrollment and help researchers achieve enrollment goals in less time with less expense.
  6. Listening: Social listening can be very powerful. Pharma can identify unmet needs to innovate and figure out where R&D dollars should go. I believe that it is essential for any pharma company or medical device industry member who is serious about developing a social media strategy to begin the process with a lot of listening. By listening, an individual company can get an idea for what types of programming is already present in the social space—and how to better innovate and do something new. In addition, social listening can allow a company to learn from the mistakes of competitors. Listening also allows company leaders to have an informed dialogue with the corporate attorneys and assist in developing policy.

Belbey: As a physician, how useful is social media to you when it comes to pharma?

Dr Campbell: I think there are great opportunities for collaboration between pharma and healthcare professionals in social media . We need real leadership in pharma and in the device industry in order to reap the benefits that this type of collaboration can provide. We are yet to see a big ROI at this point—but I think that eventually someone is going to get it right!

Note from Belbey: Before embarking on any social media program, firms are advised to carefully review guidance from the FDA and other regulators. Craft social media strategies, work with your legal department, create employees use polices and train your employees on what’s allowed and what’s not allowed. Remember that regulators around the world consider social media as just another form of communications and existing rules designed to protect the patient all apply. My Forbes blog “FDA Readies Social Media Rules For Big Pharma” provides an overview to help you get started.

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