“The Facebook Treatment:” Boston’s Latest Patient Engagement Study

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“Time to check Facebook, it’s good for your health.” Most of us have never heard these words uttered by a physician–and if we did, confusing looks would likely ensue. But in the heart of Boston, Partners HealthCare is showing us that social media–specifically, the ever-popular Facebook–may positively impact young adults with health issues.

At Partners HealthCare in Boston, preliminary results of a study involving asthmatic teenagers found significant improvement in engagement and symptom control when patients received reminders and encouragement from both clinicians and researchers via Facebook. Dr. Joseph Kvedar, Vice President of Connected Health at Partners HealthCare, presented these early stage findings at the mHealth + Telehealth World Conference in Boston this week and stated that a peer-reviewed publication for this study is in the works.

The Study

Partners Connected Health (formerly known as the Center for Connected Health) joined forces with Massachusetts General Hospital’s Department of Pulmonology to create a private Facebook group for pediatric asthma patients ages 14-17. Partners provided the private group, only viewable by invited users, with access to a password-protected website where study participants could take the Asthma Control Test (ACT), a survey measuring asthma control.

Clinicians and academic researchers sent monthly reminders–with links to the ACT–along with educational information to each study participant via Facebook. The alerts were displayed just like any other Facebook reminder, making them salient and easy to access. After a 12-month period, Partners Connected Health achieved a 79% engagement rate with approximately 125 teen participants in the Facebook group–compared to an average engagement rate of around 18% with the ACT alone.

Patient engagement is a vital component of the treatment process and DoseSpot strives to improve engagement for dental, medical and telehealth/digital health software companies alike! Contact us today to learn more about how DoseSpot’s e-Prescribing platform can lead to increased patient engagement and effective treatment plans.

SOURCE: MedCityNews

DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit http://www.DoseSpot.com.

New to the Accelerator Scene: Athenahealth

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Calling all Beantown startup followers: the Massachusetts healthtech scene is expanding! Watertown-based Athenahealth has announced that its new accelerator for health IT startups is now open for business. The “More Disruption Please” (MDP) Accelerator went into beta in June when it began working with a single startup, Smart Scheduling, but is now inviting health IT startups to apply for participation.

Based on a mission to “drive connectivity and innovation across the continuum of care,” MDP is the third phase of a 2010 effort to connect with and promote startups that seek to address areas of concern in the health care delivery system beyond the electronic health record (EHR).  The perks of joining MDP, one might ask? Athenahealth will provide venture capital to companies through the accelerator. Aside from funding, portfolio companies get free office space at Athenahealth’s super chic Watertown headquarters and ongoing mentorship from Athenahealth experts.

Athenahealth says the accelerator will accept applicants on a rolling basis, with an anticipated residency period of roughly 8 to 12 months. More information about MDP can be found on Athenahealth’s “More Disruption Please” page.

SOURCES: VentureBeat and Athenahealth

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescriptsâ„¢ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.