The Internet bringing wired physicians together at last

May/12/2007 10:38 Filed in: Media (Internet)
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It looks like a physicians portal has finally got it right and figured out that the power of the Web to bring people together and collarborate can lead to success. Sermo.com now has over 10,000 physicians registered and judging from recent posts to the site it looks like the their slogan is right "Why consult with one collegue when you can consult with thousands?".



According to a recent article in Digital Communications;


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Sermo.com is the fastest growing online community created by physicians, for physicians, today announced that it has exceeded the 10,000 registered physicians mark -- just six months after launching. Growing at a rate of more than 600 physicians per week, Sermo has become the "go to" destination for physicians nationwide to share observations from their practices and exchange medical insights as they are happening. U.S. doctors logged more than 6,000 hours and viewed nearly 1 million pages on Sermo in March alone, as they shared the latest observations from the front lines of medicine about the effectiveness of drugs, devices and treatments.


What a great idea and a great tool for wired physicians who are time pressed to attend meetings and conferences. Here are some of the recent posts on Sermo.com;


* Can Gabapentin be used for hot flashes?
* Given the injuries associated with chiropractic care, do you refer your patients to chiropractors?
* Have you seen hearing loss caused by Azithromycin?
* Which is the best quinolone for respiratory infections?
* Do you examine older kids and adolescents without a parent present?
* Do you agree with Novartis discontinuing Zelnorm?
* Have you experienced compassion fatigue?
* With new drugs coming to market all the time how long do you like to wait before prescribing them?
* Is it ethical to Google your patients?
* Is Cymbalta good for Fibromyalgia?
* Which Brand Name Drugs are better than Generics?
* FDA sleeping pill warnings -- Have they gone too far?


As you can see there are some pretty good subjects being addressed here by physicians who are hungry to collaborate with other HCP's. The post on compassion fatigue is especially interesting given that physicians have to see a lot of patients during the day and may not have the time they would like to site and counsel patients on treatment conditions and issues.

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This is a great example of Web 2.0, using the Internet to bring people together rather than push information. It's long over due and pharma should take notice of this great site because this is just a small example of how the pharmaceutical industry can bring people together to talk about issues that issue THEM.



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