Last night I attended a Social Media Week NY event at the NYU Stern School of Business called "Navigating Social Media Technology in Healthcare." Moderated by
Augustine Fou, the group chief digital officer of Healthcare Consultancy Group, the panel included Dr.
Jay Parkinson, partner of design company
The Future Well;
DJ Edgerton, CEO of interactive agency
Zemoga; Ned Russell, MD of
Saatchi Wellness; and Dr.
Oliver Kharraz, COO and cofounder of online patient-doctor site
ZocDoc.
The overall consensus of the panel was that healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry are starting to dabble in social media and digital technology, but roadblocks -- and opportunities -- remain. (For a more robust look at how those in the pharma are embracing social media, you can read
PRWeek's February
feature.)
"It's very exciting, at the beginning," said Kharraz. "We have to build on what's already out there and figure out how to use social media to make our lives better."
Fou pointed out that as the younger generation, which uses social media to get reviews of everything from music to restaurants, also want to use social media to learn more about certain drugs or doctors.
"These are habits that once acquired, are irreversible," he said, noting that that generation of doctors will also be more online-focused.