Leveraging the power of social media in healthcare research, presented by Robert Dossin at the MRS Healthcare Congress in London (UK) on Thursday March 6, 2013.

1. Conversation Research:
Leveraging the power of
social media in
pharmaceutical MR
For MRS Health conference@London
By Robert Dossin
Managing Director UK
Date Mar 7th 2013
www.insites-consulting.com
@robert_dossin

3. Patients have stepped forward
to actively participate in the
conversations about their health
Empowered patients
are a FACT today

4. 1 2 3
A third globally
impactful movement
in history

5. e-Patient Dave
@ePatientDave
 “Gimme my damn data”
 Diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer 2007
 Took an active role in his treatment & survived
 Inspiration for Novartis
 Current job: healthcare consultant!
Who is this guy?

6. Patients 1st
power tool is
information
that is out there
The internet enables them to look for
information themselves.
Dr. Google is their guide in their search.

7. 83% already used the internet
to look for information on health related topics
74%
Users
80%
82%
72%
70%
95%
69%
79% 97%
79%
87%
Information is a
popular power
Source: Health study by InSites Consulting 2010 tool

8. Sharing = caring
When patients share information, it is not limited to
exchanging rational information (treatments,
products, symptoms…)
They all feel the urge to share emotions,
concerns, issues… It is very reassuring to read
stories in which they recognize themselves
engaged patient
=
emotional patient

9. of patients says
60% info found
online affects
decision about
treatments
Online information is impactful.
56% says it changed their overall
approach to maintaining their health
or the health of someone they help
take care of.
53% says it leads to ask a doctor a
new question or to get a second
opinion from another doctor.
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/PewInternet/2012-1-12-12-rise-of-epatients-providence-st-joseph-medical-centerpptx

10. Patients have changed
So need you:
You need to observe
what they are doing
You need to engage
With the right patient!
Conversational
Research

11. The world as it used to be

12. Research has changed
From asking questions...
...to having a conversation

13. Conversation research
Social media Research community
netnography

14. Creating synergies
Social media Research
netnography communities
Only spontaneous feedback Panel pressure
Representativeness Building a community
Informed consent
Giving back

15. Social media
Research community
netnography
Recycle and ask
Recruitment
Giving back
Knowledge

16. Social media netnography
= research methodology
that makes use of publicly
available user-generated-
content in order to answer a
research question
Observational
research 16

17. Conversations are the new unit of analysis

18. Business Objectives & Approach
To empower patients and carers to initiate conversations with HCPs, and each other
and to raise awareness of the benefits of continuous medication, the research
needed to identify what patients discussed, how they discussed it, in what context
and what were opportunities for Janssen to start the conversation with patients
suffering from Schizophrenia, but also carers and HCPs.

19. EMEA Schizophrenia 24 x 7

20. Healthcare Janssen Pharma – EMEA Schizophrenia 24 x 7
How understanding patients helped
Janssen to improve its website
using Social Media Netnography
Research
Outcomes
• Different landing zones
for different patient
segments
• In 16 countries/5
languages
• 200K unique visitors
• 20% revisit rate
Corinne Pilgrim, EMEA Product Director Psychiatry,
Janssen Pharmaceuticals,

21. Social media netnography: benefits
Access to highly involved patient
and difficult topics
Many conversations
Most on relevant topics
Ideal to explore new
TAs/topics
21

22. Social media netnography: limitations
Less of the uninvolved
patient
No probing
Only what is relevant for them
Internet has no boundaries
22

23. Merck Serono: Online Research Community
with hypertension patients
(RO ROC
with hypertension patients
The challenge
Merck Serono plans to develop services for patients in the therapy area of hypertension. To
guarantee the relevance & success of services, Merck Serono wanted to get grip on the patient
lifestyle & behaviour and on the actual needs of this important stakeholder.

24. Online Research Community
Approach
with hypertension patient
What did we do?
An Insightment Community proved to be the ideal method
for answering these client needs:
• 10 days of patient blog research: individual connection
in diary style to experience the patient life through
pictures & posts.
• 3 days of crowd interpretation where patients
interpreted each others input.
• 1 week of dynamic community interaction to build on
generated ideas & understand drivers and barriers.
PHASE 2
As the GP is a crucial stakeholder in the communication &
recommendation of services, we are in the process of
asking feedback from a selection of physicians about the
patient-generated services through online discussion
groups.

25. Using the power of the group
Define
actions
Shaping
insights
Reflective
probing

26. Merck Serono: Online Research Community
Outcomes
with hypertension patients
The results
We learned that patients are very enthusiastic about the
research method and that the number of adverse events
encountered is very limited.
What were the outcomes:
Research
• 1717 posts (total of blog/crowd
interpretation/community)
• Interactive health consumer dashboard with over 250
pictures tagged for interactive analysis
Client
• 7 (unmet) needs and frictions across the patient journey
• We came up with 6 NEW service concepts

27. Thoughts to hold on to
Patients are consumers, “consumers of health” ; their
conversations are a perfect yardstick to what they perceive as the
truth
Netnography is a great method to mine user generated content from
patients
Patients want to be engaged, „cause they are engaged: MROCs!
We should reinvent ourselves, using technology to engage with
them where they are and when they want
Not just send our tradional messages via new channels
Not just by becoming a new channel checklist company

28. Thank you!
Robert Dossin, Managing Director
@robert_dossin
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/robertdossin
+44 7904 288 898
robert@insites-consulting.com
New York I Timisoara I London I Rotterdam I Ghent
Rosebery Avenue 151 - 4th floor I EC1R 4AB London I United Kingdom
www.insites-consulting.com

29. Robert Dossin
Managing Director UK
Robert’s experience:
Robert is MD and is responsible for the market research and consulting offerings for all clients in the UK
Before joining InSites Consulting, Robert worked at IMS Health, the worlds leading information provider in
the pharmaceutical industry. In the six years that he worked at IMS, as VP Marketing he has been
responsible for raising awareness of IMS high value products & services
Robert started his career at Nissan, at the European HQ of the Japanese car manufacturer as Market
Researcher and has had various marketing roles with increasing levels of responsibility.
Also, he was a marketing director at Forrester Research for 5 yrs, the European HQ of the worlds leading
Internet Technology Research firm and thought-leader in Information Technology advice.
Robert’ expertise and project experience:
Robert is used to partner with commercial teams, business units heads and chief marketing officers on
strategy development and implementation – and is an expert in launching new products, (digital) marketing
and customer understanding. He works with many Pharma & Health companies such as AstraZeneca,
GSK, J&J and is a regular speaker at Healthcare and marketing conferences.
Educational background:
Robert studied Business Economics with a major in Market Analysis and Business Statistics at the Erasmus
University, Netherlands, hold a Masters in Science (MSc) degree in Marketing and a Postgraduate Diploma
in Marketing (DipM) from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK, where he is also a Chartered
Marketer and elected Fellow. In addition, he sits on the medical marketing industry group of the CIM and on
the editorial board of the Journal of Medical Marketing.
Bio

30. Fact sheet
 Spin-off of top-ranked business school
 15 years of experience and know-how
 Pioneer and innovator in online methods
 Covering any marketing domain
 Fully independent
 Ghent, Rotterdam, London, Timisoara, New York
 130 passionate employees
 Proprietary research panel in +25 countries
 Run research communities in +37 countries and
surveys in 60+
 Most awarded agency by ESOMAR
Who we are

31. Social Media
Research
Communities
Listening &
Netnography METHODS
We allow participants to ENGAGE
with us anytime, anywhere (online,
Online Digital mobile, asynchronous methods…).
Group Engage We make it fun for them to give
Surveys
Discussions more & better answers
(gamification, audio-visual cues,
design…). We empower them to be
co-researchers (crowd
1on1 interpretation, co-moderation…).
Consumer-led
Online
Ethnography
Interviews