Objective. To define current use patterns of Facebook and Twitter among pharmacy preceptors and assess perceptions regarding use of social media within professional practice.Methods. An electronic survey instrument was sent to 315 pharmacists registered as advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) preceptors for Purdue University College of Pharmacy.Results. Approximately 60% of the 155 respondents used a Facebook account and 9% used a Twitter account. Respondents were willing to complete continuing education (CE) credit (46%) using social media, and were interested in following professional organizations (39%) on social media; however, the majority were not interested in obtaining drug or disease-state information, identifying employment opportunities, or participating in clinical discussion forums via social media. Conclusion. Despite the growing popularity of social media across multiple disciplines, the majority of pharmacy preceptors surveyed were not willing to use these venues in professional practice.
For many consumers, the Internet has become a primary resource for health-related information. A study was conducted to evaluate the reliability and validity of consumer drug-information sites on the Internet. To assess reliability, the researchers identified sites with an “ask the pharmacist” option. Questions about the education and experience of the drug-information personnel, volume of inquiries received, reference utilization, and characteristics of inquirers were submitted to each of the sites. To assess validity, a drug information question was submitted to each of the sites. The responses received were evaluated by comparing them with responses from trained drug-information specialists working in established institutional services. Fewer than 70% of the sites answered the drug information question correctly. The conclusion: Drug information communicated via “ask the pharmacist” Internet sites may be unreliable.
BackgroundThe use of social media has risen tremendously over the past decade with usage rates spanning from 5% American adults in 2005 up to 69% in 2016. A 2011 survey of 4033 clinicians found that 65% physicians use social media for professional purposes. To meet the changing needs and preferences of their customers, medical information departments within the pharmaceutical industry must continue to assess new digital channels such as social media and evolve their medical information services.ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to pilot the use of social media as an additional channel to respond to unsolicited medical requests from health care professionals (HCP RUR) directed toward the pharmaceutical industry.MethodsFrom November 2016 to June 2017, 3 pilots were conducted during 3 professional congresses: the 2016 American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting, the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, and the 2017 American Headache Society Annual Scientific Meeting. For each social media account, an identified community manager monitored the incoming account feed for proper triaging of posts. When an unsolicited medical request appeared, the community manager routed the question to the Tier One medical information contact center agents to respond. The following metrics were collected: total number of unsolicited requests directed to medical information contact center agents, total number of unsolicited requests that required escalation to Tier Two medical information associates, total number of unsolicited requests that were confirmed US HCPs, total number of unsolicited requests received after hours, and total number of unsolicited requests that were redirected to a different channel.ResultsDuring the 3 pilots, 9 unsolicited medical requests were received with request numbers ranging from 2 to 4 requests per pilot. Of these, 1 was from a confirmed US HCP that required escalation to the Tier Two medical information associates. A majority of requests (7 out of 9) came in after the scheduled monitoring hours. There were 4 requests redirected to the medical information contact center phone number. The marketing accounts received more unsolicited medical requests than the corporate accounts (7 vs 2, respectively), and the 3 Twitter accounts saw more overall engagement (ie, medical requests and other general engagement) than the LinkedIn account.ConclusionsA limited number of medical questions were asked by confirmed HCPs using social media during the 3 pilots. New innovative medical information contact center channels often take time to build awareness. Continued channel awareness is needed to fully understand the channel’s desired use. Because consumers currently make up a majority of social media engagement, companies should look into creating a combined consumer and HCP RUR strategy to provide a better experience for all customers.
Medical information groups are searching for innovative ways to support their business. For some companies, globalization may provide just the right opportunity to streamline business process, ensure consistency, and reduce duplication of effort. This article will present various options for globalizing medical information practices, discuss technologyrelated issues and solutions in general, and identify three potential pirfalls related to globalization.
With the growing need for clinical clerkship sites, Eli Lilly and Company continues to expand opportunities available to PharmD students. Thispaperpresents the drug information clinical clerkship program for Eli Lilly and Company in Global Medical Information within the regulatory component. Goals for the drug information clerkship programinclude: providing the student with experience in drug information, exposing the student to the pharmaceutical industry, strengthening the student's verbal and written communication skills, improving the student 's ability to perform computerized literature searching, and more importantly, improving the student's literature evaluation skills. These goals are accomplished through five objectives consisting of: I . Developing a familiarity with various drug information sources, 2. Completing special projects, 3. Answering requests from health care professionals, 4. Developing an appreciation of differences in industrial versus institutional settings, and 5. Developing an awareness of corporate organization and responsibilities. Benefits of this drug information clerkship are appreciated by the student, by the school, and by Eli Lilly and Company.
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