Unveiling the New Artcraft Health Website

Artcraft Health recently updated its website, to better serve the interests of its clientele in the life sciences industry, including pharma, biotech, and medical device companies.

Here’s a quick company overview—They are an award-winning, full-service health education agency specializing in the creation and development of compelling solutions that are aligned with their clients’ strategic imperatives. They work with clients to develop strategies and tactics to overcome health literacy barriers and promote effective, innovative outcomes that drive results.

The website houses each strategic division, while showcasing Artcraft’s leadership team, innovative work, and solutions ranging from professional to motion media, awards, client experience, and testimonials. The website also gives an insight into their internal solutions and services, from the clinical trials division through mature brand extension. Their blog is filled with informative posts covering the latest trends in healthcare education such as patient engagement, risk-based contracts, and gamification.

“The Artcraft Health website showcases the talents and expertise of our team,” says Marc Sirockman, Executive Vice President and General Manager at Artcraft Health. “The look and feel depicts everything that the company stands for. It’s innovative, informative, and all-encompassing of our core principles and values.”

Experience the new website today.  Please visit www.artcrafthealth.com.

Pharma Social Media Strategy Guidebook - by Telerx

Social media presents new opportunities for patients to manage their health – empowering them to seek direct access to information about medical conditions, treatment options and patient communities. Are you prepared to support them?

Download the guidebook today to uncover a best practice approach to social participation and strategy development.

http://www.pharmalinx.com/Telerx_PharmaSocialMedia/

Overview:

The increased adoption of social media is impacting every industry, but maybe none more than the healthcare industry. Patients and healthcare providers (HCPs) are looking to social media for information and support regarding their health and the health of their patients. Social media offers you an opportunity to interact with patients, caregivers and HCPs on topics for which you have unique and valuable insights. These interactions can improve outcomes, open new opportunities, and increase loyalty.

Connected Health: Big Business and Big Impact on Healthcare

Technology connects patients and healthcare

The future of healthcare, according to many experts, will be a connected, or integrated, model that encompasses a number of different technologies, including apps, EMR, telehealth, mHealth, wearable devices, etc.

We're steadily moving toward that future.  If you take a look around you will see that connected health is already becoming a growing part of many of our lives.  Technologies continue to improve and provide a more seamless interface between patients, healthcare providers, payers, and health information technology companies.  Whether looking up health information online, using an app to manage a health condition or having a real-time video call with a doctor, connected health enables people  to be more proactive in managing their health while helping to provide them with more efficient health care.

Research  of U.S. broadband households by Parks Associates has found :

• Over 50% with access to online services such as prescription refills, real-time video calls with a doctor, or appointments use these services
• 27% have used a provider or insurer website, averaging about 2.5 visits per year
• 25% have used a health app, with usage averaging almost four times per year
• 13% are interested in virtual tools to manage medications, and 15% are interested in post-surgery virtual monitoring

According to Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates, "2014 will be a pivotal year for consumer-centric healthcare solutions and services. The healthcare technology market is benefiting from a favorable policy environment, a groundswell of consumer interest, a brisk innovation cycle, and a growing eagerness among payers and providers for effective consumer/patient engagement."

Connected health will continue to rapidly expand and touch more of our lives in more ways in just a few years.

Harry Wang also states, "The tech industry is in a stage of intense experimentation and innovation as companies try to find successful strategies to transform the health industry."

Additional research by Parks Associates finds:

• The number of U.S. households using video consultations for their care needs will increase to 22.6 million in 2018.

• By 2018, almost 135 million healthcare consumers will benefit from care practices following the accountable care principles. Among them, almost 20 million will be eligible to participate in a physician/hospital-led care program responsible for coordinating all their health needs and  managing multiple chronic conditions.

• The connected health and wellness solution market will generate almost $8 billion in revenue in 2018 from selling hardware, software/apps, and wellness services.

• The market for senior-focused independent living solutions will grow 11% annually on average for the next five years, generating $1.4 billion in service revenues in 2018.

To learn more about the best strategies to engage consumers and create a healthcare experience with technology that is enjoyable, convenient, and friction-free, consider attending Parks Associates  upcoming ConnectedHealth Summit: Engaging Consumers, September 4 - 5, 2014, in San Diego.

The event will examine strategies to drive increased adoption and usage of connected health solutions and services while reducing wasteful healthcare spending and improving care quality.  Keynote speakers will be Ascension Health, Humana Wellness, Kaiser Permanente, Qualcomm Life, and Walgreens.

If you would like to read more about Connected Health, PharmaVOICE  published a special March 2014 issue focusing solely on the topic.  You can access it here.

Can the Crowd Reinvent Pharma?

Is Crowdsourcing Viable for Pharma

How did Wikipedia put encyclopedia companies out of business? How did Netflix improve its recommendations to users? Why does Linux dominate web server operating systems? How did amateurs stomp the predictions of geological experts in gold mining speculation? Is there intelligent life in outer space? These are all examples of crowdsourcing, albeit in different flavors.

Can thousands of people solve problems faster and cheaper than a team of bona-fide experts? That is the promise of crowdsourcing.

There is no single magic formula for crowdsourcing success. Here is one common method.

1)      Define the problem

2)      Ask people for solutions

3)      Share all available data (often huge amounts of data)

4)      Examine the submissions

5)      Award the prize(s)

6)      Implement the solution(s)

Can crowdsourcing work for pharma and help improve adherence, patient care programs, and general health and wellness initiatives? According to Duncan Arbour at inVentiv Health and Innovation, we'll find out soon. Check out his article The Sense and Sensibility of Patient Crowdsourcing.

Can crowdsourcing uncover a future blockbuster or help find a cure for a serious disease?

Let’s hear your ideas in the comments.

Hospital of the (Near) Future

Every aspect of the building will be designed for the patient 

Who hasn't had a poor experience because of a bad hospital room? Who hasn't gotten lost in a maze of elevators, corridors, and waiting areas? Why is the cafeteria so hard to get to in many hospitals? Most antiquated hospital designs don't work for the patient or their visitors.

The typical hospital room, with its beige walls and stingy windows, carries a dim, funereal cast and works against patient well-being. The standard twin-bedded configuration doesn't help, fostering the spread of infection, making sleep difficult, and giving people at their sickest the dignity of life in a freshman dorm.

The latest issue of Fast Company magazine covers an emerging movement for modern, well-designed hospitals that cater to the patient, not just the doctors and nurses who pop in for a few minutes at a time. Administrators used to think cramming more patients in the same space was good for the bottom line. Maybe it was back then. Nobody likes to share a room with other patients when they are sick and uncomfortable, and patients have more choices for healthcare than they did in the past.

The new look hospitals will be a godsend to patients. All patients will have their own room, with large windows and comfortable beds. The rooms will be tech-savvy with a media wall, hi-speed WiFi and other modern technologies. Video chats can replace phone calls between patients and family or friends. Bathrooms will be spacious and accommodating - in contrast, many old hospital bathrooms aren't even large enough for a walker. In the new designs, nurses will have better line-of-sight angles to monitor their patients.

Single rooms for every patient - well appointed

Slanted rooms give patients views of the outside and of the media wall

What's changed to allow the design of a hospital to be more patient-friendly? The fee-for-service model is moving toward a flat fee for an entire episode of care, such as a hip replacement or a heart procedure. This will help eliminate over-billing for many things, such as the $150 Tylenol pill.

These changes are already in the works in some places, but the overall hospital system won't change overnight. While some new hospitals are utilizing these new designs, it will take decades to revamp or rebuild a majority of the 5,800 hospitals in the U.S. The best of the new hospitals will be built from the ground up, rather than retooling existing buildings.

Better hospitals will improve the level of care we can provide. This is exactly the kind of innovation we need.

The Affordable Care Act - an Election Lightning Rod

By Denise Myshko, Managing Editor, PharmaVOICE

The major reforms contained in the Affordable Care Act are not scheduled to take effect until 2014, but the legislation faces legal and political challenges. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court heard appeals related to the legislation, and the court’s ruling is expected late June.

At issue is the individual mandate, which would require everyone to have health insurance either through an employer or through a state-based insurance exchange. During three days of arguments, critics argued the individual mandate was unconstitutional.

Studies from several experts — Center for American Progress (CAP), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Lewin Group, and the RAND Corp. — have examined the impact of severing the individual mandate but retaining the market reforms of the Accountable Care Act. They all find that doing so would result in a dramatic rise in the insured population and increase health insurance premiums compared with health reform with a mandate.

The trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) has posted a chart comparing these experts’ predications here:

http://www.ahipcoverage.com/2012/03/23/the-link-the-impact-of-aca-market-reforms-without-a-mandate/

Whatever the court’s verdict, healthcare reform will be a key issue in the November presidential and congressional elections. Experts say even if parts of the healthcare reform law are overturned, the momentum for change in healthcare will continue. (Download the PDF article: Healthcare and the Political Landscape)

States are continuing to work to create health insurance exchanges, which become effective January 2014. Starting in 2014, if an employer doesn’t offer insurance, individuals will be able to buy it directly in an Affordable Insurance Exchange, a new transparent and competitive insurance marketplace where individuals and small businesses can buy affordable and qualified health benefit plans.

Stay tuned as the court’s decision unfolds.

Visit www.americanhealth2012.com for an expanded look at the intersection of healthcare and politics.