Next week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to hold hearings on Health Care Companies’ use of the Internet and social media tools. We at WEGO Health decided to bring the voice of our Health Activist community to this historic event.
The result is a survey of over 160 Health Activists, their opinions, and some interesting insights. Our survey found that Health Activists believe:
- Social media is an important tool for health communication, and Health Care Company participation provides value to the community;
- That regulation of Health Care Companies in social media is challenging, and the FDA should work to tailor regulations to the practical realities of social media
- But Health Care Companies have an obligation to the community to be transparent, to correct misinformation about their products, to report adverse events, and to follow regulations.
Some interesting findings from a very enlightening survey:
- 93.5% of survey respondents said dedicated Health Social Networks, such as DailyStrength.org, are moderately to extremely useful
- 79.4% of Health Activists feel Health Care Companies’ use of social media tools provides important updates on products or services
- 67.7% believe regulation of Health Care Companies’ participation in Internet and social media needs to be tailored to the unique attributes of the Internet and social media
Jack Barrette,
Bob Brooks, and
Marie Connelly will be presenting during two sessions at the FDA hearings.
Click below to check out their presentation for Thursday, November 12 is below:
And here's the presentation for Friday, November 13, which deals with reporting adverse events:
Are you interested in a full review and analysis of the WEGO Health Activist Social Media survey? Let us know by filling out our
Health Care and Social Media contact form!
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