Yesterday I had the opportunity to moderate a fascinating panel: Drug & Food Safety in the Age of Social Media and Transparency. The panel was part of the Driving the Adoption of Health IT Through Innovations in Social Media conference in Washington DC.

There were three panels in all. Mine was the second panel. After opening remarks by Craig Stoltz, Founder of Web 2.Oh…Really (and Former Editorial Director, Revolution Health and Former Editor of the Washington Post Health section), we heard from experts on H1N1 Influenza: How Social Media Improves Communication & Collaboration For Public Health. After my panel, we heard from experts (including Disruptive Woman’s March Man of the Month, Dr. Ted Eytan of Kaiser Permanente) on Electronic Health Records: Using Social Media To Drive Health IT Adoption.

Drug & Food Safety in the Age of Social Media and Transparency Panel Summary:

Americans have been concerned about drug and food safety over the past several months as they grappled with E. coli, salmonella, flu, and drug safety scares. More and more people are turning to the Internet for information and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken notice. Several agencies, including the FDA, are utilizing robust social media tools to help inform the public – health professionals as well as consumers. This panel focused on the general approach HHS is taking in addition to focusing on some of the specific tools the Office of the Secretary and the FDA have incorporated into their websites in order to quickly, accurately, and easily inform the public.

Drug & Food Safety in the Age of Social Media and Transparency Panelists Emphasized:

- efforts under way at the Department and inside FDA to incorporate social media tools—including how they are working, how they are coordinated, the lessons learned, and the challenges that have arisen
- from the health provider’s perspective, what has worked well, where there are gaps, and suggestions for next steps
- issues around the digital divide, health literacy, and how best to evaluate the usefulness of the information.

Disruptive Women is interested in your comments—how can HHS better inform the public about health alerts, public health incidents, food scares, drug/device safety concerns, recalls, when it comes to social media and other forms of communication?

The HHS panelists were very open to seeking our ideas. Let us know what you think and we will pass along your suggestions.

Drug & Food Safety in the Age of Social Media and Transparency Panelists Included:

- Andrew Wilson, Web Manager, Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)
- Sanjay Koyani, Director, Web Communications, Food & Drug Administration (FDA) – presentation
- Val Jones, MD, Medical Blogger and CEO, Better Health LLC – presentation
- Patricia Hinton Walker, PhD, RN, FAAN, Vice President for Nursing Policy & Professor of Nursing, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

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