Newly Branded DecisionPoint Focuses on Point of Care
A new, non-profit life sciences trade association, DecisionPoint: The Point of Care Communications Association, emerges out of a group of leading suppliers of life science marketing and educational services, encouraging the education of life science and pharmaceutical companies with the value, benefits, and proper use of point of care communications. Joe Meadows, President of Think Patients LLC and Executive Director of DecisionPoint: The Point of Care Communications Association, shares this sentiment: “There is no better way to educate a patient than to equip their healthcare provider with tools and resources that make it easy for education to occur.”
By banding together as a trade group, the association will help the pharma and healthcare industries improve point of care as a channel that supports this effort. “That’s a win-win approach in which we are proud to be a participant and supporter,” says Rishi Shah, DecisionPoint Chairman and CEO of Context Media, Inc.
Shah states that this union is an important event for companies interested in gaining better point of care communications among patients, providers and sponsors of point of care communications. Shah hopes to expand these efforts within the upcoming months, by joining responsible companies across the life science and pharma industries together.
DecisionPoint now has four main areas of focus:
1. Educating life science companies about the value, benefits and proper use of point of care communications.
2. Creating a platform for cooperative industry efforts.
3. Promoting professionalism and ethics in point of care programs offered to patients and providers.
4. Facilitating the growth of point of care communications within the healthcare community.
DecisionPoint already collaborates with companies including the healthcare marketing agency, Dudnyk and conference company, CBI.
Novo Nordisk and Paula Deen Further Partnership
Novo Nordisk and famous American cook Paula Deen teamed up last year to help spread the word about type 2 diabetes—and the pair is at it again. The just wrapped Seeing Diabetes in a New Light contest encouraged adults with type 2 diabetes to share stories about positive changes they made in their lives to better manage their disease. Stories were submitted online at www.DiabetesinaNewLight.com through April 13, 2013, and now six winners (and their guests) will be chosen to visit Deen at her home in Savannah, GA and take part in activities including a diabetes-friendly lunch at The Lady & Sons, taking a guided walking tour of Savannah and attending an educational diabetes conference hosted by Taking Control of Your Diabetes.
WebMD and Qualcomm Life Form Partnership
WebMD Health Corp. joins together with Qualcomm Life, Inc., using its 2netPlatform Medical Device Data System (MDDS) that allows consumers to better handle their health records through synced data. This helps users to wirelessly share their health data. Rick Valencia, Vice President and General Manager of Qualcomm Life, says, “Users—patients and physicians—can select from a variety of apps, devices and tools to better understand and manage their health or the health of their patients.”
IMS Health Acquires Appature
IMS Health acquired Appature, a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company based in Seattle, to expand its commercial services capabilities for life sciences and healthcare organizations. Appature’s patented cloud-based relationship marketing platform addresses the complexities of today’s multi-stakeholder healthcare environment and enables the measurement and optimization of relationship marketing programs across channels. By combining IMS’ market-leading healthcare information, analytics and managed services with Appature’s platform, the company hopes to be able to offer clients the ability to deliver integrated customer experiences and ultimately more effective and optimized campaigns.
Pinterest Rx Encyclopedia
RxWiki, Inc. launched a medication encyclopedia on the social network Pinterest, featuring over 75 boards consisting of news and videos covering FDA-approved compounds and OTC medications. The Pinterest page (http://pinterest.com/rxwiki) is a visual medication resource that offers pharmacists and patients a place where they can find medication information organized by health condition; specific boards for Rx, OTC and natural supplement news; and links to pharmacist-approved news and videos on RxWiki.com.
GSW’s iQ.mercury 2’s New e-detailing Platform
GSW introduced a newly upgraded e-detailing iPad platform that allows sales representatives and physicians to become better connected. The platform lets the representatives make presentations to the doctors on their smartphones. Dubbed the Remote Control, content management tools embedded in iQ.mercury 2 help brand and sales managers to be in charge of individual or groups of reps.
New QuantiaMD Social Collaboration Platform
QuantiaMD launched ServiceLink, a social collaboration platform that allows physicians, pharma companies and reps to digitally begin and maintain relationships in a secure environment. This suite will help physicians gain knowledge of product information digitally, a plus since pharma companies have hit a dead end when it comes to face-to-face product discussions. Mike Coyne, CEO of QuantiaMD, says “We can provide unparalleled access to physicians—on their terms—in a fast and convenient way not possible until now.”
LDM Group Adds Hy-Vee, Inc.
Hy-Vee, an Iowa-based retail chain, has joined LDM Group’s network of pharmacies. LDM Group is a healthcare communication company that connects prescribers, pharmacists and patients, and is a leading provider of behavior-based prescription management programs. Hy-Vee is ranked as one of the top 20 U.S. supermarket chains. Through this partnership, Hy-Vee will now offer CarePoints, LDM’s direct-to-patient messaging program used to deliver patient-centric health and wellness information.
Veeva Systems’ New Approved Email Strategy
Get ready this summer for a new method of interaction between sales representatives and healthcare practitioners. Veeva Systems will be presenting its Approved Email solution, which is said to increase overall rep productivity by at least 20%, according to Paul Shawah, Veeva Systems’ Vice President of CRM Strategy. The strategy will enable users to email approved content to customers directly from iRep and Veeva CRM, without increasing sales force numbers.
Capzule to Send Rx Refills to Walgreens
The Capzule iOS application available on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch can now send prescription refills to any of the 8,000 plus Walgreen’s pharmacies. This app may help to strengthen medical adherence, since it is detailed, efficient and available for immediate review when patients are speaking with doctors. The app can track doctor appointments; hold family, social, and medical history; keep current with medications, vaccinations and immunizations; and record allergies and conditions. It also stores relevant data such as height, weight, blood pressure and pulse.
Roche and Chiasma to Commercialize Octreolin
A collaboration between Roche and Chiasma, a privately held biopharma company, will lead to the development and commercialization of the biopharma company’s proprietary drug, Octreolin. Used for acromegaly, a disorder that develops when the pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone, and for neuroendocrine tumors, Octreolin is an oral form of the peptide octreotide, a drug previously available only by injection. The new pill form has yet to be approved by the FDA. It is currently in pivotal Phase III clinical trials for acromegaly. Roche received a worldwide exclusive license to the new drug form and will be responsible for the drug’s commercialization. If approved, Genentech will market the product in the United States.
