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Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Nursing Virtual Clinic
San Lucas Medical and MDSNe with the support of United Therapuetics Europe Ltd have just launched an exciting, innovative education programme: The PAH Nursing Virtual Clinic at www.PAHClinic.org. The programme offers nurses a specialised case-based curriculum designed to increase their knowledge and competency in the identification and comprehensive management of patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). The initiative is designed to replicate the real-world experiences of the busy clinician and will allow learners to meet and care for one patient with certain clinical presentations and medical history and manage the patient over multiple visits and care...
Read MoreManaging NSCLC in China
A survey conducted by MDSNe (May 2011) focused on the current practice management habits of oncologists, surgeons and radiologists in China. All respondents were MDSNe users. The results were very interesting. Let’s get the standard information out of the way, the standard clinical speciality was ‘medical oncology’ (65%), 126 respondents took part in the survey and all worked in government hospitals. What immediately hit us were the guidelines adopted by Chinese oncologists. An overwhelming majority (86.7%) routinely use the NCCN NSCLC guidelines (which have been adapted and translated into Chinese language), while a small fraction (13%) followed ESMO or the...
Read MoreThe possible impact of Social Media on the design of CME/CPD
Traditional online CME has been designed and delivered based on the assumption that participants will likely interact and engage with the program up to maximum of 3 times. In fact the low completion rate of online CME and the high bounce (when a user lands on a site and leaves almost immediately) rates seems to back this up this strategy. Providers have responded by attempting to provide as much relevant information as possible, in a very short space of time, hoping the learner will make it through the course before their attention wanes and then leaves. The reasons for the less than optimal participant interaction is beyond the scope of this blog, for a good analysis...
Read MoreBarriers to innovation in continuing medical education and how social learning can aid CME providers
Bower et al (Barriers to innovation in continuing medical education) produced an excellent analysis relating to one of the key barriers to the design and uptake of CME which proves to be most effective in changing physician behaviour (competency-based educational activities) and ultimately changes in population health as a result (Moore DE et al; A framework for outcomes evaluation in the continuing professional development of physicians). The holy grail of CME. Bower et al identified that physicians who participate in CME “select educational opportunities that appeal to them”. Unfortunately, the appeal of competency-based educational activities is low. The gap...
Read MoreSocial Learning & Social Media, Where do the regulators currently stand and how do we proceed in the Pharma Industry?
Caution seems to be the current atmosphere when I speak to pharmaceutical executives about Social Media and Social Learning. The current ‘policy’ of the FDA, the ABPI, and PMCPA, plus a host of regulatory bodies, is the same. They are taking a “wait-and-see approach” to social media campaigns. Presumably they will come in with regulations when a company or agency oversteps the mark. It is not difficult to see then why we are all reluctant to really tap into the vast potential of social learning and social media. With such opportunity to reach doctors more effectively, it’s a shame we have not seen the kind of dynamic innovation found in other industries. I...
Read MoreSocial Learning and Pharmaceutical Marketing and Education
Until recently, many assumed the values of traditional pharma marketing and web 2.0 being irreconcilably different. Web 2.0 has allowed medical social learning to fully take off, by allowing thousands of clinicians to teach each other in response to recognised educational needs of their peers. The concept is truly novel and very new. Past learning required long lead times, was heavily reliant on ‘key opinion leaders’, was necessarily risk averse. Social Media has allowed a new and highly effective form of learning which is necessarily risky, deployed quickly and reliant on thousands of interested participants with little up front planning. Whatever our views on...
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