Academic Network Combines Healthcare and Social Media Expertise to Lead Pharma, Food, Beverage Industries Safely into Health 2.0

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Academic Network, an award-winning medical and health communications firm, is now offering new services to help clients practice safe consumer engagement in the emerging world of Health 2.0 -- the use of social media for collaboration between patients, caregivers, medical professionals and other stakeholders. Because the trend toward Health 2.0 is growing so rapidly, Academic Network utilizes social media platforms to gather consumer information on new products, recruit patients for clinical trials and help clients successfully build, monitor, manage and track their online reputation as they engage with consumers online.

According to a recent report by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, MA, MHSA, The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media, “The phenomenon of the wisdom of crowds has begun to change consumers’ relationships with their traditional touchpoints in health: physicians, health plans, suppliers and pharmacists. By sharing ideas, discussing symptoms, and debating treatment options together, all of these stakeholders gain knowledge that can ultimately improve patient care.”

Academic Network has tapped into the social media phenomenon to help companies glean powerful information at the earliest stages of product research. Academic Network’s use of interactive social media to recruit subjects for large-scale clinical trials ensures even speedier completion of product research, higher quality of data, and accuracy of information that consumers will ultimately rely on for the safe use of both pharmaceutical and food products.

“The Internet has surpassed even doctors as a main source for consumers to gather health information, and people trust other people to reflect reality where health is concerned,” said Kate McCarron, chief executive officer, Academic Network. “We believe that our health and medical expertise, in conjunction with a social media practice, can better integrate patient care with today’s communications best-practices; improving patient compliance with their therapies, engaging with consumers when they’re most motivated to learn, and providing safe, moderated discussions to share experiences.”

When one of the largest pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare companies planned to launch a new over-the-counter product, it called Academic Network. A team of scientific experts in nutrition, nephrology, physiology, biostatistics and informatics compiled a 45 member team of multilingual call center nurses, dietitians and professionals to answer questions on this new drug via a health call center, email and message boards.

Academic Network also has monitored, captured and reported Adverse Events (AEs) and Severe Adverse Events (SAEs) on one of the first sponsored blogs for the drug. Participants log into a secure site and can connect with other users, giving them a safe environment to share stories, advice and get support from other participants.