One of my favorite sitcom lines was from Roseanne, circa 1992. Darlene’s uncle brings a vcr and she says with incredibly dry delivery, “Alright, the Connor Conner family leaps into the 80’s.” That’s kind of how I feel today about the newest feature for the Direct Online Maketing: polls.
Recently, we came across some really interesting research regarding how consumers look for answers to their healthcare related questions and issues. The answers may surprise you. They did me.
Healthcare Marketing Finding #1
People turn to the internet for answers to their health care questions even more than to a healthcare professional. [Update: this research provided by Harris Interactive.] Seriously. 65% to 62%. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but to use the most tired phrase of the last couple years, it is what it is. If you’re a hospital, doctor, cancer center, fertility clinic, drug maker, or are involved in healthcare in any other way, you need to know this.
It reminds me of a Scrubs episode where Dr. Kelso deals with a snotty know-it-all patient who was looking up information about her health problems in the hospital bed while he was trying to treat her.
Healthcare Marketing Finding #2
So of the online places one can find answers to their healthcare questions, which do you think is the most popular? Vote in our poll below and find out the answer next week:
Oh and one last thing: Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!! Let us know what you think of the new design and whether we should keep it permanently.
16 Comments
As an additional reference I would check the Harris Interactive polls http://tinyurl.com/6oo49b on “cyberchondriacs” where they found that in 2008 of the 76% of all US adults online, around 81% looked online for health information. They have been doing this study over a number of years which makes them an excellent source to cite in any literature. In addition, the Pew Internet Online Health Search (2006) http://tinyurl.com/yy3b7p suggests a figure closer to 80%. Again, an excellent source to cite. I will be tumblogging about this in the future, so watch this space.
I love the new design! It’s probably bringing me a little too much joy today. I’d like to see rotating holiday/seasonal themes if it’s not too much to ask
Comment by Ann Ali on October 31, 2008
@Mark - Great resources! Thank you very much for stopping by and sharing them. FYI, these came from Harris Interactive, too. Should have put that into the post.
@Ann - We’ll run that by Derrick. He’s the one you can thank for this theme. Funny - I missed the “Werewolf Hunters” thing before. We’re keeping that in our tag line for sure!
I think it’s Tim O’Reilly who says there are trends that are 10-15 years out for early adopters of new web-based tech…
Like I used early search engines Dogpile and About.com in college (1998ish), I’d say we’ll see *increased* adoption of using these types of social networks to answer our questions.
Semantic search technologies like those used by iMedix.com are in fact actively sending out search queries to community members.
In essence, we had first the info web (search engines, static). Then the social web (communities, chatrooms, listserves) and now I think we’re seeing the functional web (not my insight alone, certainly - lots of much smarter tech people making this observation) where these two things will be used to do/buy. Health is a bit behind here, but not much.
This is nothing new, though, right? Same purpose (pose questions to a group of trusted friends/colleagues/family members) - all that’s changed is the channel.
Just like I’d ask my best friend for a recommendation on an OB/GYN in Baltimore if we were sitting in the city having dinner, I’ll ask my tweetstream to help me find health data online.
One of the amazing things about this group is it includes patients and practitioners, so there’s an interesting osmotic flow of information across ‘closed’ membranes effect.
@Jen - Great background. I never got into dogpile in college for some reason, but I know a lot of people that did.
Here’s one question specifically for health issues, though, and it’s based on no research, just how I personally communicate:
Most of the people using twitter (and having personal or professional success with it) tend to be pretty social, I would argue. They (and I, although I’m a little more introverted than extroverted) will ask for directions, good places to eat in a new town, ideas for how to cut hair on a wig, etc.
Won’t a lot of people view health concerns as more personal? I would probably be more open to tweeting a question about what to do if my baby’s fever wouldn’t go down, but I don’t know that I’d want the whole world to know that I had a growth or something more serious. Am I in the minority?
Health, like our political leanings, outfits, and food choices, is becoming part of our personal life narrative, and thus part of the personal discussions we’re moving online/mobile.
Health is intensely personal. So is dating. So is what we wear, watch, and read. Health/wellness platforms and killer apps that take this into account and provide protection concurrently with the opportunity for permission-based, situationally oriented revelation will win. But they’re largely not here yet (although sites including Patients Like Me are a good start).
@Ann - Thanks for the comments on the page! Holiday themes will gladly continue… Just wait and see what I have in store for St. Patrick’s Day, the Official Holiday of Me.
Comment by Derrick McKee on October 31, 2008
@Jen, - First of all, awesome Hugh McLeod quote. The concept is spot on plus it’s referencing the best sport of all time.
Maybe you’re right. I’m seeing more and more people profess their political beliefs openly (something I don’t and won’t do). I’ve always been a bit of a Luddite.
I love that McLeod quote which is spot on and Jen McCabe Gormen’s post above. I believe this is a standard Risk/Benefit or Cost/Benefit relationship. Right now there is a cost or risk to sharing personal and private health information (which may be a greater fear than actual risk, but that is another issue), but today, there is little benefit associated with that cost. but those times are obviously changing, and the benefit of using your health info to gain knowledge and understanding is growing, as are privacy/permission systems to ease fears. few years from now, we will be surprised at the instinct to keep all of our health info obsessively private (although, obviously some info will always remain private). we will gain tremendous benefit from personalized services that tap our personal info for great individual benefit and will wonder what we did without them. Eric Schmidt made the wonderful analogy at his HIMSS speech in February 2008 comparing this phenomenon to use of credit cards online 10 years ago–tremendous fear, people did not do it, but now it is commonplace and taken for granted, due to the benefit confered by buying things online, and improvements in security.
Today people cannot envision the benefit they will gain from divulging their info, because the tools and killer apps dont yet exist, so they are very hesitant to give up the info. But once the apps are there, the Cost/Benefit ratio will shift, and people will gain comfort with actively using their health info online.
@Chris - Thank you for stopping by and continuing some really smart discourse.
Two things you wrote were really eye opening:
1. I hadn’t really thought about the disclosure of health information in terms of classic risk / reward and now I’m hitting myself in the head for not being smart enough to do so. What can I say? I play with rocks. There definitely isn’t enough in it for me at the moment to put out a call for serious health questions on twitter, but that might change if there were. Of course, I worry about stuff like reputation management and how that stays online forever (even in direct messages for those twitterererers out there unless you’ve set your profile to private), so it’ll be a big hurdle for me personally. But like I tell clients, if you’re offering $250 million, people will submit their ssn’s, driver license #s, and a dna sample online.
2. Segueing into Eric Schmidt’s comments that you reference, it is completely different today for most consumers. Few people of a certain age think twice about entering a credit card online, both enticed by the power buying online gives them and sufficiently convinced that their privacy is protected.
Finally, I would be remiss not to copy the McLeod quote in full from Jen’s site since we’ve both referenced it:
“Head for where the puck is headed, not where it is…” - Hugh McLeod
Thank you to everyone for the great comments. Now let’s go Pens, Nailers, and Commodores!
Great follow up discussion in the comments. Glad I was able to link up my Health 2.0 friends/followers to your post. The growing semantic web at work. You see my tweets on WV health question, you tweet to me your post on the health poll, I retweet the health poll to my health tweet contacts, great discussion follows in the comments.
I also love the McLeod quote. After having seen the quote by Jen when she originally posted it - I used it in a meeting with my partners the following week to discuss strategy on new areas of law that we need to be focused on as a firm.
Couple of other points that I will raise as we consider the shift in a willingness to share (or not share) personal health information. First, one development that impedes sharing info more openly is our employer based health system. There are many people out there concerned that their health info might be used against them in an employment context (even though we have laws to protect against such use). Moving away from a system were our employers provide, monitor, self administor, etc. would be good for health care. Second, what impact will genetics have on the health privacy question. As we move to more genetic testing for preventative care what will happen with the privacy risk/reward balance. What if my genetic markings show that I will get cancer at age 45, be predisposed to have a stroke or have a heart attack. How valuable would this info be to my employer? my bank who wants to make me a 30 year loan for a new house? etc.
@Bob - Really appreciate the promotion. Most fun discussion we’ve had around here in quite awhile.
The other points you raise are very important and not specific ones I would have ever thought of. They point to the general concern about sharing private information publicly. If you share information at a party, people may or may not spread that information via rumor or even putting up online, although the latter’s less likely.
If, however, you put that information out online, that’s a permanent written record that’s publicly accessible forever. One might feel differently (or not) about sharing that information ten years later than they do today.
As an additional reference I would check the Harris Interactive polls http://tinyurl.com/6oo49b on “cyberchondriacs” where they found that in 2008 of the 76% of all US adults online, around 81% looked online for health information. They have been doing this study over a number of years which makes them an excellent source to cite in any literature. In addition, the Pew Internet Online Health Search (2006) http://tinyurl.com/yy3b7p suggests a figure closer to 80%. Again, an excellent source to cite. I will be tumblogging about this in the future, so watch this space.
Comment by Mark Hawker on October 31, 2008
I love the new design! It’s probably bringing me a little too much joy today. I’d like to see rotating holiday/seasonal themes if it’s not too much to ask
Comment by Ann Ali on October 31, 2008
@Mark - Great resources! Thank you very much for stopping by and sharing them. FYI, these came from Harris Interactive, too. Should have put that into the post.
Comment by Justin Seibert on October 31, 2008
@Ann - We’ll run that by Derrick. He’s the one you can thank for this theme. Funny - I missed the “Werewolf Hunters” thing before. We’re keeping that in our tag line for sure!
Comment by Justin Seibert on October 31, 2008
None of the above (in the poll) - I post a question on Twitter and the health tweets there give a flood of links.
Secondary method: Google (main page) and Hakia.com (semantic) searches.
Tertiary method: For ‘chronic’ conditions or items/trends of concern I set Google alerts.
Comment by Jen McCabe Gorman on October 31, 2008
@Jen - Great stuff! You do a ton in the health care field and I’m curious on your professional opinion:
Do you see twitter and the like
A. getting adopted more by the general public, and
B. being used for this purpose?
Comment by Justin Seibert on October 31, 2008
Justin -
I think it’s Tim O’Reilly who says there are trends that are 10-15 years out for early adopters of new web-based tech…
Like I used early search engines Dogpile and About.com in college (1998ish), I’d say we’ll see *increased* adoption of using these types of social networks to answer our questions.
Semantic search technologies like those used by iMedix.com are in fact actively sending out search queries to community members.
In essence, we had first the info web (search engines, static). Then the social web (communities, chatrooms, listserves) and now I think we’re seeing the functional web (not my insight alone, certainly - lots of much smarter tech people making this observation) where these two things will be used to do/buy. Health is a bit behind here, but not much.
This is nothing new, though, right? Same purpose (pose questions to a group of trusted friends/colleagues/family members) - all that’s changed is the channel.
Just like I’d ask my best friend for a recommendation on an OB/GYN in Baltimore if we were sitting in the city having dinner, I’ll ask my tweetstream to help me find health data online.
One of the amazing things about this group is it includes patients and practitioners, so there’s an interesting osmotic flow of information across ‘closed’ membranes effect.
Comment by Jen McCabe Gorman on October 31, 2008
@Jen - Great background. I never got into dogpile in college for some reason, but I know a lot of people that did.
Here’s one question specifically for health issues, though, and it’s based on no research, just how I personally communicate:
Most of the people using twitter (and having personal or professional success with it) tend to be pretty social, I would argue. They (and I, although I’m a little more introverted than extroverted) will ask for directions, good places to eat in a new town, ideas for how to cut hair on a wig, etc.
Won’t a lot of people view health concerns as more personal? I would probably be more open to tweeting a question about what to do if my baby’s fever wouldn’t go down, but I don’t know that I’d want the whole world to know that I had a growth or something more serious. Am I in the minority?
Comment by Justin Seibert on October 31, 2008
Justin -
Not yet you aren’t…but I think you will be. (See 10-80-10 rule on Health Management Rx: http://healthmgmtrx.blogspot.com/2008/06/healthcare-for-middle-80.html)
Health, like our political leanings, outfits, and food choices, is becoming part of our personal life narrative, and thus part of the personal discussions we’re moving online/mobile.
Health is intensely personal. So is dating. So is what we wear, watch, and read. Health/wellness platforms and killer apps that take this into account and provide protection concurrently with the opportunity for permission-based, situationally oriented revelation will win. But they’re largely not here yet (although sites including Patients Like Me are a good start).
Comment by Jen McCabe Gorman on October 31, 2008
@Ann - Thanks for the comments on the page! Holiday themes will gladly continue… Just wait and see what I have in store for St. Patrick’s Day, the Official Holiday of Me.
Comment by Derrick McKee on October 31, 2008
@Jen, - First of all, awesome Hugh McLeod quote. The concept is spot on plus it’s referencing the best sport of all time.
Maybe you’re right. I’m seeing more and more people profess their political beliefs openly (something I don’t and won’t do). I’ve always been a bit of a Luddite.
Comment by Justin Seibert on October 31, 2008
Justin-
I love that McLeod quote which is spot on and Jen McCabe Gormen’s post above. I believe this is a standard Risk/Benefit or Cost/Benefit relationship. Right now there is a cost or risk to sharing personal and private health information (which may be a greater fear than actual risk, but that is another issue), but today, there is little benefit associated with that cost. but those times are obviously changing, and the benefit of using your health info to gain knowledge and understanding is growing, as are privacy/permission systems to ease fears. few years from now, we will be surprised at the instinct to keep all of our health info obsessively private (although, obviously some info will always remain private). we will gain tremendous benefit from personalized services that tap our personal info for great individual benefit and will wonder what we did without them. Eric Schmidt made the wonderful analogy at his HIMSS speech in February 2008 comparing this phenomenon to use of credit cards online 10 years ago–tremendous fear, people did not do it, but now it is commonplace and taken for granted, due to the benefit confered by buying things online, and improvements in security.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTZKNcx9sBA
Today people cannot envision the benefit they will gain from divulging their info, because the tools and killer apps dont yet exist, so they are very hesitant to give up the info. But once the apps are there, the Cost/Benefit ratio will shift, and people will gain comfort with actively using their health info online.
Comment by Chris Hogg on October 31, 2008
@Chris - Thank you for stopping by and continuing some really smart discourse.
Two things you wrote were really eye opening:
1. I hadn’t really thought about the disclosure of health information in terms of classic risk / reward and now I’m hitting myself in the head for not being smart enough to do so. What can I say? I play with rocks. There definitely isn’t enough in it for me at the moment to put out a call for serious health questions on twitter, but that might change if there were. Of course, I worry about stuff like reputation management and how that stays online forever (even in direct messages for those twitterererers out there unless you’ve set your profile to private), so it’ll be a big hurdle for me personally. But like I tell clients, if you’re offering $250 million, people will submit their ssn’s, driver license #s, and a dna sample online.
2. Segueing into Eric Schmidt’s comments that you reference, it is completely different today for most consumers. Few people of a certain age think twice about entering a credit card online, both enticed by the power buying online gives them and sufficiently convinced that their privacy is protected.
Finally, I would be remiss not to copy the McLeod quote in full from Jen’s site since we’ve both referenced it:
“Head for where the puck is headed, not where it is…” - Hugh McLeod
Thank you to everyone for the great comments. Now let’s go Pens, Nailers, and Commodores!
Comment by Justin Seibert on October 31, 2008
Awesome design!, and good idea to diversify into werewolf hunting. Just don’t let the werewolves know.
Comment by Chad Remp on October 31, 2008
Great follow up discussion in the comments. Glad I was able to link up my Health 2.0 friends/followers to your post. The growing semantic web at work. You see my tweets on WV health question, you tweet to me your post on the health poll, I retweet the health poll to my health tweet contacts, great discussion follows in the comments.
I also love the McLeod quote. After having seen the quote by Jen when she originally posted it - I used it in a meeting with my partners the following week to discuss strategy on new areas of law that we need to be focused on as a firm.
Couple of other points that I will raise as we consider the shift in a willingness to share (or not share) personal health information. First, one development that impedes sharing info more openly is our employer based health system. There are many people out there concerned that their health info might be used against them in an employment context (even though we have laws to protect against such use). Moving away from a system were our employers provide, monitor, self administor, etc. would be good for health care. Second, what impact will genetics have on the health privacy question. As we move to more genetic testing for preventative care what will happen with the privacy risk/reward balance. What if my genetic markings show that I will get cancer at age 45, be predisposed to have a stroke or have a heart attack. How valuable would this info be to my employer? my bank who wants to make me a 30 year loan for a new house? etc.
Comment by Bob Coffield on November 2, 2008
@Bob - Really appreciate the promotion. Most fun discussion we’ve had around here in quite awhile.
The other points you raise are very important and not specific ones I would have ever thought of. They point to the general concern about sharing private information publicly. If you share information at a party, people may or may not spread that information via rumor or even putting up online, although the latter’s less likely.
If, however, you put that information out online, that’s a permanent written record that’s publicly accessible forever. One might feel differently (or not) about sharing that information ten years later than they do today.
Comment by Justin Seibert on November 3, 2008