According to trendwatching.com “brands that behave more humanly…will be awesome”, which is an interesting idea in and of itself. The people at Trendwatching talk about “human brands” – not an entirely new thing. Tag lines like “random acts of kindness” are similar in concept. They say that there are four forces at work here:

1. People are disillusioned at corporate behavior
2. People look for personality in brands
3. Online culture is becoming the culture
4. People have a hard time connecting (really trusting) others who are not human (i.e., too perfect)

The idea about being more human made me wonder if healthcare could be more human and what the human face of healthcare might look like.

I found an interesting answer to my question from a Ted Talks video by Lucien Engelen called “Crowdsource your health.” His talk is in essence about people helping people with their healthcare. This is not diagnosing, this is all about support and encouragement in the eHealth space.

He gives a great example of his weight loss journey where he uses a digital scale that uploads his weight into the cloud. Then his twitter followers help him with eating tips –pretty cool as it uses technology to connect him and his goals with the world. The great thing about this concept is that it can be extended across most health-related issues like smoking cessation, etc.

The most powerful segment of his talk is a video clip of a person who died (presumably from a heart attack). It goes backward in time showing us that the person trying to help had no other option but to wait for the ambulance.  To alleviate this kind of scenario, Mr. Engelen created an application that shows locations of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). With the public’s input (we submit AED locations), nearby AEDs can be found to help save lives. Visit the site, aed4.us, and add an AED near you (you can also download the app).

This is truly technology helping create a world of people working together.

The season of March Madness is marked by smack talk around the office, team flags flying high, brackets, bets, numerous Facebook posts and more. Even if you are not a fan of North Carolina’s beloved college basketball teams, you will at some point get caught up in March Madness.

 Here at MMC we decided to put the madness of March to a good cause and let some friendly (and not so friendly) competition help those in need. The result is a canned food drive for the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and a new kind of bragging right:

 In the lobby of 11000 Regency Parkway, MMC has set up boxes behind basketball jersey cut outs for people to donate to the Heels, Blue Devils, Demon Deacons, Wolfpack or drop a can in each. If you work in the area stop by and drop your cans off and pose for a photo behind your jersey. Not only will you be contributing to your teams win, but you will be helping feed your neighbors here in NC. Also, fill out a raffle ticket for a chance to win a prize. It is a win-win situation this March!

 As of Tuesday afternoon the UNC Tar Heels were winning by a long shot. Guess they are on a roll from this weekend’s win over Duke. To stay up to date follow us on twitter @MicroMass or check out www.facebook.com/micromass

At MicroMass, we understand that to help a patient you have to understand their mindset first.  There are many ways that we collect this information.  For example, we look at what researchers have already published, but often times, this produces statistics related to medication adherence or condition monitoring.  It doesn’t tell us what drives and motivates a patient.  And it certainly doesn’t tell us what brings them joy, and what scares them.  Getting to know the totality of how a person thinks, feels and acts is critical if you want to reach them in a way that is relevant and meaningful.

That’s why I love the New York Times’ Patient Voices series.  This interactive piece shines a spotlight on the day to day challenges and triumphs of people living with a chronic condition, breaking stereotypes as they go.  Through photos narrated by the patient themselves, their stories unfold, giving you a small glimpse into the good, the bad and the ugly of their day to day lives.  There are currently over 40 conditions represented, including those that everyone has heard of such as diabetes, ADHD and cancer as well those that may be less familiar such as scleroderma, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and Crohn’s disease.  However, no matter what you thought to be true about a condition, listening to these stories will change those perceptions about what it means to have that condition and what they truly need to help them in their journey.  What insight could be more valuable than that?

I’m not an organ donor. I know I should be, but I’m not. I get squeamish just thinking about it. Why? I can think of a few reasons. I guess at this point in my life, knowing that should I die, I could save the lives of others waiting for a healthy organ just isn’t enough for me. Sadly, I know I’m not alone here. 

Not only does the idea of organ donation force you to think about your own mortality, it’s unsettling to think about organs being removed from your own body.

Apparently, organ donation is somewhat of a hot topic. According to a February 16, 2012 New York Times article, countries around the world are trying various approaches to increase their number of volunteers. For example, Spain and Austria tried an “opt –out” approach, meaning that unless you have specifically indicated you do not want to donate, you are considered a donor. This hasn’t worked too well because family opposition to donation after a loved one’s death is respected and is enough to prevent organ removal.

Israel is trying a new approach that will include “non-medical” criteria inthe decision about who gets moved to the top of the transplant list. While medical necessity would still be the first priority, Israel will be the first country in the world to give special consideration to those on a transplant list who are themselves organ donors. While the system doesn’t take effect until April, desired outcomes, including the number of available organs for donation, has already increased.

Clearly, this new system is causing people to re-evaluate the pros and cons of organ donation. Suddenly, “what’s in it for me?” is much more tangible. Organ donation in Israel is becoming an opt-in to life. I think that would be enough for me.

This is an obvious statement, but we use our mobile phones (and other mobile devices) a lot each and every day. Our phones have become our instant information genie and Swiss army knife. There are numerous stats out there that make the point, but rather than bore you by regurgitating them, I thought I would show you just how and how much we use our mobile phones. I took a (unscientific) poll at work where I asked my fellow workmates how they use their phone. The tag cloud below is the results of my grand experiment:

Some of the things my coworkers used their mobile phones for were quite unique. For example, one person used his phone to buzz the door of his apartment complex to allow a friend in while the he was on an out of town business trip. Another person used the iPhone function that permits self-portrait photos to check someone out at a bar who was standing behind them.

This was a fun experiment and it wasn’t until someone made the statement below that I realized just how integrated our mobile phones are into our lives:

“Oh, by the way, I do occasionally use my phone to make a call.”

The Google Doodle. What started out with a stick figure for an out of office message in 1998 has turned into a constantly changing image on the popular search engine’s homepage used to illustrate holidays, commemorate history and remind us all to slow down and take a look.

For Valentine’s Day, the Google Doodle is not just an illustration but a video, complete with Tony Bennett singing a Hank Williams song about love.

Though the holiday doodles are fun and festive, we must give credit to the Google Doodlers who come up with what to doodle. For many of us these dates would pass unnoticed, but just a click on the doodle and the significance of the day is brought to our attention.

PC Magazine listed the top 50 doodle’s of 2011, and a few of my favorites are below.

Did you know that July 6, 2011 would have been Lucille Balls’ 100^th birthday? For those of you clicked on that day’s Google Doodle, you would have found out. The interactive doodle played clips from I Love Lucy.

They also focus on bringing attention to current events, such as the lunar eclipse that took place last June. In fact, if you missed it, you could recreate it using the Google Doodle.

Even though Google has a team of artists they call doodlers, they often give the public a chance to design the doodle. In fact, last year, a third grader won Google’s Annual Doodle 4 Google contest with this illustration:

So the next time you are in a hurry to “Google” directions somewhere, a new recipe, news or where to buy flowers the day of Valentine’s Day, slow down and take a look at the doodle. You might learn something.

With a wedding coming up in a few months, I’ve been looking into tools to help me to shed some extra weight. My sister, Melissa, mentioned that she recently started using myfitnesspal.com and saw some fast results, so I decided to check it out.

Myfitnesspal.com is a calorie tracking program that can be accessed online or through a smartphone or tablet. I was immediately hooked and seeing results. This is why is works:

Informed choices:

Research shows that those who track their food intake lose two times as much weight as those who don’t. Myfitnesspal.com’s calorie food tracker lets me see in black and white how many calories I should be taking in and the actual calories that are in the food I am eating. When you sign up for the program, you receive a daily target calorie intake (net after any exercise) based on your current weight and your individual target. Before using this program, I had no idea what my ideal calorie intake should be and I was even more clueless about how many calories were in the food I ate on a regular basis (hint: It was WAY over the target). Tracking everything I eat helps me to plan my meals better and make better choices about the kinds of foods I eat.

Goal setting:

Since weight loss is a slow change, it can be easy to get discouraged when you don’t see immediate results. When you finish entering all of your food and exercise for the day, myfitnesspal.com generates an estimate of what your expected weight will be in 5 weeks if you have more days like that day. Providing a glimpse into the future of what you could achieve if you stick to the plan helps to reinforce your good choices and keep you motivated to continue on that path.  On the other hand, when you have a day when you exceed your targeted calorie intake, it’s a wake-up call to get back on track if you want to reach your goal.

Social support:

Numerous studies have shown that having the support of friends and loved ones is associated with better results in losing weight. One of my favorite features of myfitnesspal.com recognizes this with a facebook-like newsfeed where you and your friends can track each other’s progress. Status messages are generated when you complete your calorie tracking for the day and when you input your physical activity. My sister and I follow each other and can exchange much needed encouragement. The friends on your feed only see your high level accomplishments, (not if I snuck in a bag of M&Ms as a snack), so it gives me the space to be  honest with myself, but also to be encouraged when I’m doing well.

Easy to use:

And the icing on the (sugar-free) cake is that this application is free and simple to use. It takes less than a minute to enter in my meals, so I have no excuses.  There is even a bar code scanning option when using my phone or tablet to make it even easier to count each crumb.  With a touch of a button, you can generate simple graphs and charts that show your progress over time.

I’ve been using this app for only 2 weeks and have already shed 5 pounds. The proof is in the (non-fat) pudding. Go to myfitnesspal.com to sign up for a free account.

If you know me, you’ve heard me talk about DiabetesSisters. It’s a thriving organization serving women with diabetes. DiabetesSisters was founded in 2008 by Brandy Barnes, who wanted to create a place for women with diabetes to come together and talk, support each other, and live well with the disease.

DiabetesSisters has grown from a small online group to an international community of more than 10,000 women from countries across the world.  Every time I meet with Brandy, I am just in awe of all she has accomplished and am so glad I am a part of her organization.

While Brandy has events running year long, with the New Year comes the 3^rd annual overnight Weekend for Women conference in Raleigh, NC. Part of her weekend includes the orange:will Diabetes Awareness Walk, taking place on May 20, 2012. It’s a free, one mile walk with the goals of creating greater awareness of diabetes and supporting all women living with the disease, regardless of type. And, you don’t have to be a woman to walk! All people are welcome. There are also great prizes (like an iPad, airline tickets, and designer sunglasses) for those who raise the most money.

MicroMass will be wearing orange on May 20^th. We can’t wait to see you there.

Following the recent and unfortunate tragedy of the Costa Concordia, much of the focus has been on the series of poor decisions that led to the disaster. Almost one hundred years ago, similar poor decision making and denial also led to the unfortunate end of the “unsinkable” Titanic.

As we enter into this new year that is meant to bring about a significant sea change for the pharma industry, there are hints of similar kinds of “Titanic” thinking evident among many of the players. For many years now, industry insiders have been highlighting future changes and trends that might impact our industry. Many were significant in scope, but seemed safely enough in the distance to ignore. However, to continue to ignore the evolving environment may be equivalent to steaming arrogantly toward that fateful iceberg.

Taken individually, many of these coming changes seem manageable and isolated to just a few stakeholders, but when you consider the impact of them as a whole, it is clear that a big shift is coming. This big change has a clear theme emerging – a shift that is placing more and more emphasis on the importance of the patient.

Whether relating to healthcare reform, healthcare costs, regulatory changes, or comparative effectiveness, all things point to a greater need to recognize the value from, as well as to, the patient.  In pharma marketing, we seem headed away from a culture of trickle-down data and features to one that consciously tries to translate these elements into the true value they offer to patients.

Some companies seem headed in the right direction already, but other seem determined to stay the course.  An innovative approach is clearly needed. For those willing to adapt, the timing is perfect to act now. And hopefully those who are slower to respond will learn a lesson from history about trying to steer a large vessel away from disaster at the last minute.

I found this fascinating Ted Talks segment by Dr. Quyen Nguyen on a simple yet potentially powerful technology to enhance the accuracy of surgery that uses color (chemically induced fluorescence) to show (highlight) certain body parts . In essence, this technology will color code specific body structures so that surgeons can literally see where to cut; thus, increasing a surgeon’s precision.

As Ms. Nguyen states in her talk, medical students learn anatomy using color coded textbook illustrations. The diagram on the left shows nerves in yellow, arteries are red and veins are blue – simple right? But in actual surgery, as shown in the right photo, it is not so easy to differentiate discrete structures.

Imagine if you could colorize specific parts of person’s body, such as cancerous tumor. A surgeon could see more accurately where the tumor is and would be able to more completely extract it. The picture below shows a tumor that is “lit up” in a green fluorescent color. In addition, the fluorescent color “shines” through tissue which permits the tumor to be seen even when it is slightly covered up.

This technology works well for metastatic lymph nodes in a breast cancer scenario as it permits a surgeon to readily tell which lymph nodes have cancer and which do not. This technology also works for identifying nerves, which if damaged during surgery can cause paralysis and pain. The notion of nerve-sparing surgery may have just been redefined.

I like to read about these kinds of technological advances because they ultimately result in inadvertent injury from surgeries and can be a significant part of enhancing a patient’s post-surgery quality of life. And if I am undergoing cancer or nerve-sensitive surgery, I want the surgeons to have all the tools they need to see what to cut and what to leave alone.