Impactiviti Daily 060310 Top Pharma News

*****

TODAY’S NEWS:

Could low-dose Avandia be useful in preventing diabetes onset? This would be good news for GSK – GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Avandia helped prevent the onset of diabetes when taken at a low dose with another drug, according to a company-sponsored study that suggests the regimen may help patients without raising heart attack risk. Half doses of Avandia and the therapy metformin, when combined, cut the risk of developing diabetes by two-thirds compared with placebo, Canadian researchers said..more

We’re in the gusher phase of the pre-ASCO press release flood. This sneak peek on BMS products is intriguing. More here – Four Scenarios for BMS.

Lying about data – people just don’t seem to learn. Sigh. And that goes for financial folks, politicians, climate scientists – it ain’t just pharma, folks!

Cephalon, Provigil and Nuvigil.

RECOMMENDED

Leadership Training. We’ve got the vendor/partners you need for this – field leaders or executive leadership level. Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

PLUS

New iPhone app released by Novartis subsidiary CibaVision. My “live” review while playing with it – mixed feelings. And, while we’re doing reviews – a north Jersey restaurant (Tabor Road Tavern) that blew me away.

JUST FOR FUN

Who needs PSA tests for prostate cancer when you have Fido? What’s interesting is that this is – amusingly – serious!

———-

Subscribe to the Impactiviti blog via e-mail (which will bring you Impactiviti Daily – a brief of the day’s top pharma news)

Visit the Impactiviti Job Board

Sign up for the Impactiviti Connection twice-monthly e-newsletter (see sample)

*****

Read Full Post »

Apple’s iPad and eHealth – Gamechanger?

Apple just yesterday introduced the iPad, essentially an iPhone on steroids that bridges the gap between smartphones and small computers.

Will this be the platform that accelerates eHealthcare on the provider side (hospitals, doctors, medical education, etc.)?

I say yes. Here’s why:

First of all, the pace at which doctors are using smartphones as part of their practice (and especially iPhone/iPod Touch) is accelerating dramatically, as is uptake/usage of the applications (see here, here). Younger doctors especially will not want to practice untethered medicine.

Second, we are now at a place where the convergence of form factor, power, connectivity, affordability, and functionality argue for widespread adoption. An iPhone screen is pretty small. A laptop is inconvenient. An iPad which can be used for data lookup, data entry, point-of-need multimedia education and reference, and access to electronic health records – what’s not to like?

Third, because Apple knows how to create interfaces, and because app development is now in full swing, this device and its siblings (iPhone and iPod Touch) cross the threshold of easy. That’s crucial for rapid uptake. Also, it’s not a totally “new” device, so many of the potential users will be accustomed to the interface scheme.

Imagine an iPad mounted in hospital patient rooms, and other doctor-useful locations. A physician comes into the room, equipped with an iPhone, and the iPhone sends a signal to the iPad. A quick biometric finger scan and the doctor is “in” the system, with access to all information and medical records necessary for the patient. When the doctor leaves, he/she logs out, or failing that, once his/her iPhone is 20 feet out of range, the system logs the user off. Or the doctor simply carries around an iPad for always-on accessibility during rounds and other daily duties.

It’s not so much that the iPad is a gamechanger in and of itself – it should be an accelerator of trends that are already happening, and inevitable. It’s a right-device-at-the-right-time evolution. It could also be a fabulous tool for a pharma salesforce, but that’s another subject.

(More: Read this post by Christopher Penn, talking about sales and marketing, but note the ease and all-in-one themes. Also this Mashable article, with the payoff in the last paragraph. On the pharma side, I’d guess that Sally Church agrees with me).

Lots of other possibilities come to mind – what do you think? Gamechanger – or big yawn?

[Update: some contrarian points here, and some wait-and-see thoughts here. Mostly valid – but as I mention in the comments, iPad 2.0 will likely address most of these]

———-

Subscribe to the Impactiviti blog via e-mail (which will bring you Impactiviti Daily – a brief of the day’s top pharma news)

Sign up for the Impactiviti Connection twice-monthly e-newsletter (see sample)

Connect with Steve Woodruff

Read Full Post »

VaxTrak – a Novartis Goodie for the iPhone (review)

Along with many others, I’m of the opinion that the iPhone will prove to be a very powerful tool for health delivery. It’s a welcome sight to see pharma companies begin to experiment with it, and Novartis Vaccines has just released a nifty cool called VaxTrak (iTunes link), to help parents keep track of their kids’ vaccinations.

Have all your vaccination records stuffed away in various places? Can’t keep track of what’s coming next? This may solve the problem.

Here’s the description from the iTunes store:

I’ve downloaded it and begun to play with it. First blush – VaxTrak is nice and simple.  The interface is completely intuitive, and the app works exactly as it should. You enter in the basic info for each family member, and the Planner then generates all the dates for vaccinations (that should have happened in the past, and pending). You can mark all the ones that have occurred, or “opt out.”

The Spot Shots is really cool – basically, it uses geolocation to show you the nearby stores/pharmacies where meds are available.

Now, you can have all those records (and future dates) handy in one spot. And, it’s free. Awesome.

It should be noted that the schedules and geolocation, etc. are currently only for the United States market. Hopefully an updated version will include country-specific info for other areas of the globe.

What I REALLY like about VaxTrak is that this same concept can be adapted for so many other medical “scheduling” needs. This will serve as a great template for a host of similar applications. Simple. Focused. Intuitive.

Kudos to Novartis Vaccines for rolling this out. Very nicely done.

———-

Subscribe to the Impactiviti blog via e-mail (which will bring you Impactiviti Daily – a brief of the day’s top pharma news)

Sign up for the Impactiviti Connection twice-monthly e-newsletter (see sample)

Connect with Steve Woodruff

Read Full Post »

Tech Toys…er, Productivity Enhancers!

In the relentless pursuit of fun with technology business efficiency, I’ve recently put in place three new toys tools. Here are my off-the-cuff initial impressions:

1. Apple iPhone:

Tired of a cell phone that wasn’t a great performer, and wanting to consolidate a number of functions (contacts, calendar, e-mail, music, etc.) into one device, I decided to shed the old technology garments and jump into a stylish new Apple iPhone.

I figured it was going to take a number of days to “figure it out” and bring the system up. Nope. In very little time, I had it activated, sync’ed up my iTunes music, connected to my Yahoo mail account, and easily explored many of the other functions of this very cool device.

First impression – where has the rest of the software design world been all this time? What a fabulous interface! As I have mentioned often to my clients, I am not at all easy to impress when it comes to interfaces – I’ve seen far too much user-hostile and non-intuitive design. The iPhone, however, is a delight to use – I was texting my 17-year old son in no time (and was he shocked when he found out I’d gotten an iPhone!) and my one concern – the flat-screen “virtual” keyboard – quickly became a non-issue when I began to use it. Sweet. Since I’m on the road a fair bit, this will make it easier to remain productive and in touch. Which leads me to…

2. GrandCentral:

I now have a new “universal” phone number (973-947-7429) that reaches me wherever I am, courtesy of Google’s free GrandCentral service. My office line and mobile number still work, but this new number forwards calls to wherever I am – I just go on the website and tell it where to forward calls. There is also web-based voice mail and a bunch of other services. And, when/if I transition to different phone numbers or cell service (as I am doing with the iPhone), it won’t matter, because the one number can just be re-directed to the new phone. How cool is that?

3. And, speaking of new ways to do phone communications, welcome to ooVoo. I know, another silly-looking Web 2.0 name, but this is pretty slick – download the free ooVoo software, hook up a webcam, and you are making FREE video calls – no charge for phone or chat time. You can even set up multiple-person sessions.

I just began experimenting with ooVoo this morning, so I don’t have a full grasp of the potential business uses. But, like many of these new on-line collaborative tools, it’s very easy, very inexpensive, and powerful.
It doesn’t hurt that they’re fun as well!

Read Full Post »