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Part of the WEGO Health KnowledgeSite

In April 2011, WEGO Health released the results of an in-depth study focusing on how its "Health Activists," engaged and active users of digital technologies, view social media use by health organizations, including pharmaceutical companies. Overall, Health Activists feel it is important for health organizations to engage online with patients, despite the lack of guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Other results from the survey include: 

• "Sixty-three percent agree that social media dialogue between healthcare companies and online communities is valuable, and regulations should not prevent those open conversations;
• Seventy-four percent of respondents agree that any FDA regulations need to be tailored to reflect the unique attributes of the Internet and social media;
• Sixty-four percent agree that health care companies’ participation in social media will not decrease after the FDA guidelines are issued, they do believe that there is a need for tailoring the regulations to reflect the attributes of the Internet and social media;
• Sixty percent agree that companies should get involved in monitoring and correcting any misconceptions or misinformation about their product on the Internet."

The full results of the WEGO Health survey can be viewed in the presentation below.