This edition covers a new patient search tool for clinical trials, the impact of generics on prescription spending, an online medication encyclopedia, WebMD’s latest collaboration and an introduction to a rare disease search engine:
– Online patient network PatientsLikeMe has unveiled a new search tool that provides an easy way for its members to find clinical trials. PMLiVE’s PatientsLikeMe Launches Clinical Trial Search Tool For Patients provides new insight into the free tool that draws on open data to match patients from around the globe with clinical trials based on their condition and location
– Prescription drug spending has been slowing for years because of the increasingly widespread use of low-cost generics. The New York Times reported something unheard-of happened in 2012 – money spent on prescription drugs actually dropped. U.S. Drug Costs Dropped in 2012, but Rises Loom explains while the dip was small – 1%, to $325.7 billion – it was the first time the research firm IMS Health had recorded a decrease in US drug sales since the company began tracking such numbers in 1957
– RxWiki is a vast and comprehensive medications encyclopedia for patients and consumers that is aimed at providing accurate information written and edited by pharmacists. The Honest Apothecary offers an introduction and overview in RxWiki: Medication Information FOR Patients FROM Pharmacists
– The WebMD latest venture, an alliance with QualcommLife, gives WebMD the latitude to help multi-brand device users keep what they’ve got and build from there to achieve an enhanced WebMD experience. WebMD Digs Deeper Into The Everyday from Medical Marketing & Media outlines how the collaboration can be used to better leverage the information millions of profiled users have provided to the site
– A powerful new search engine designed to help diagnose rare diseases could prove a boon for both medics and the public. MIT Technology Review’s The Rare Disease Search Engine That Outperforms Google highlights a search results comparison on the publically available research project which could become a valuable tool for the medical community
That wraps this week’s review of news from and for the pharma market research community. I’ll leave you with an invitation to learn more about the benefits of real time data and offer you a personal demo of InCrowd’s on-demand platform providing you direct and immediate access to Crowds of screened and targeted healthcare professionals.
If you have tips, suggestions, or resources you’d like to share leave us a comment below and please feel free to suggest topics that you would like to see covered in future posts.
