Who wants to talk?

The recent change to Facebook whereby Pharmaceutical and Medical Device companies are no longer “protected” from comments being posted on their walls has led to some removing themselves from this form of social media completely. Others have basically said “no worries” and seem to be happy to continue to embrace this form of communication with patients and healthcare professionals.

To us at VoyageMD this is a discriminator between companies – those who have confidence in their products are unconcerned and will use social media more and more. Perhaps those who have not even dipped a toe in this particular water have something to hide? The excuse that some companies are waiting for the FDA (Food and Drug Administration in the United States) to produce guidelines before developing their social media presence is curious given that others are more than happy to post, blog and tweet.

In the diabetes space NovoNordisk (@Novonordisktbl), Animas (@cgc0211) are very responsive to questions from VoyageMD (@GoDiabetesMD) as are Roche (@accuchek_us). Here is a snippet of our recent dialogue with them on twitter:

@GoDiabetesMD

@Accuchek_US We would like to include a short summary of what you can offer travellers with #diabetes: bit.ly/ocPsrM Please reply

@accuchek_us

@GoDiabetesMD No special instructions for air travel, but travelers should always carry plenty of spares in case of high BG readings

@GoDiabetesMD

@accuchek_us How often should sets be changed and advice on if sets need changing more frequently if flying? #diabetes #travel #insulin

@accuchek_us

@GoDiabetesMD Accu-Chek infusion sets should be changed every 1 - 3 days, depending on instructions for use that came with set

@GoDiabetesMD

@accuchek_us Does that include the tubing? Sorry to be so specific but it matters

@accuchek_us

@GoDiabetesMD Yes, that includes tubing - again, check instructions or call customer care 800-280-7801 if there is any question. Thanks!

Social media is here to stay and at VoyageMD we are using social media to develop our site for travelers with diabetes. Hopefully the larger companies will no longer shy away from social media – after all it is how increasing numbers of us communicate with each other, why not with them?