What you won't find in your Xmas stocking from the FDA...
It’s true. The FDA has had 13 months to draft guidelines for healthcare companies and their use of the Internet and Social media, yet said this week that no guidelines will be announced until Q1 of 2011. Surprised? Not really. So what should we do now?
For some companies, it will be business as usual. While I think the majority of companies are taking a conservative approach to social media (limited activity on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for instance), some companies are proving that you can and should jump into social media. TIME magazine reported on the use of social media by medical companies, and Novo Nordisk’s campaign with race car driver Charlie Kimball is a good example of what can be done, while we wait for the guidelines. As Kimball notes in the story, "It's a great way to connect with the diabetes community.”
At Schwartz, we’re finding a varied mix of “tolerance” and interest in social media among our healthcare clients. Most are at least “dipping their toes in” at this point. One thing for sure, they all agree that social media has become an integral part of how almost everyone communicates, including how consumers and patients get information about their health. So if you’re not doing at least some social media, you are missing an opportunity to connect and interact.
It will be interesting to see when guidelines come out and what is addressed first, since the FDA also noted that they would be segmenting guidelines and addressing only one aspect of social media in Q1.
In the meantime, campaigns already underway will most likely continue as they have in 2010, without clear guidelines. That’s not necessarily a bad thing either.
Tags: DDMAC, FDA guidelines for social media, healthcare PR, Medical PR, social media
Posted by Helen Shik on December 23, 2010 at 1:30 PM
