Roundtable Discussions Can Clarify Misconceptions About Social Media

At last month’s Proventa 2015 Clinical Data Strategy Meeting in London, Link2Trials’ Managing Director Simon Klaasen facilitated a successful round-table discussion about the pros and cons of using social media for patient recruitment and how it can boost patient centricity.

 Twenty delegates from 15 different pharmaceutical companies attended the round-table and during a lively discussion they shared their ideas, experiences and lessons learned on the subject. We were told by Proventa that there were many more people interested in attending our round-table, but due to logistic limitations they had to limit the number of attendees.

 Most attendees had very limited experience with social media. Many were very concerned about the negative response a social media post can trigger and the consequences of this for clinical trials.

 What surprised us most was how many misconceptions and concerns there still are in the pharmaceutical industry about using social media, patient portals and digital communications with patients.

 Since Link2Trials has been using social media successfully for patient recruitment for years, we were asked to kick-off the discussion by elaborating on how we use it, how this relates to the protocol, what the costs are, and how we deal with potential drawbacks.

 At the end of the round-table all agreed that the session was very informative and useful. Especially the interactive and informal character of the session was much appreciated and many took home some pointers on how to improve the way their companies digitally communicate with patients.

 We are very happy that we could help broaden the understanding on how social media and patient portals can support patient recruitment and how it can boost patient centricity.

 We like to thank all attendees for actively participating in the discussion. It is your willingness to candidly share experiences that made our round-table session such a success!  We also like to thank Proventa for organizing the event.

 Click here for more information on the 2015 Clinical Data Strategy Meeting in London.

 Click here for more information on Proventa.