Second Life

Cigna rolls out Second Life community

Anne Zieger — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:10:29 -0400

In an interesting case of an insurance company doing something (moderately) cutting-edge, Cigna has launched a pilot project that includes a virtual healthcare community based on virtual world Second Life. Previous companies with an interest promoting healthcare interests on SL include IBM, which debuted its own healthcare island promoting its HIE architecture at this year's HIMSS conference. As FierceHealthIT users are likely to know, SL is a 3-D virtual world where users interact in a realistic landscape using avatars to represent them. Cigna's SL community, which is being promoted in both the U.K. and the U.S., will offer virtual health seminars, educational games focused on preventative care and programs designed to improve and sustain health behaviors. Cigna hasn't yet decided whether the SL content will be provided to employers as a standard part of health plans, or as a free option for plan members.

To learn more about Cigna's offering:
- read this Healthcare IT News article

ALSO NOTED: Latest NPI deadline poses big problems, report says; Allscripts/Misys deal could offer $850 opp to Allscripts; and

Mon, 19 May 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> If providers needed to hear it again, here's more support for their position. Another report has concluded that new deadline for for using the National Provider Identifier will create big problems for many of them. Article

> One analyst is predicting that the merger of Allscripts and Misys could create a $850 million market opportunity for Allscripts. Article

> The AMA is asking Congress to make HHS set national standards for e-prescribing by the end of 2009. Article

> Cincinnati researchers are studying whether text messages might help teenagers adhere to their medication regimens. Studies suggest that on average, only 50 percent of adolescents follow treatment regimens properly. Article

And Finally... Can Second Life avatars think--even if no humans are involved? Researchers hope this one will be able to soon. Article

Social marketing important for HIT, too

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:59:59 -0400

As a reader of FierceHealthIT, you're probably familiar with social media--the vast, amorphous web communications network including blogs, networks like MySpace and Facebook, and virtual worlds like Second Life. You might even have an ID or two on these networks. But have you considered whether these media play any role in supporting your company's IT efforts? If you're a typical tech type, probably not, but you should.

At the simplest level, you can use project blogs (combined, perhaps, with email updates), to keep people updated on the status of big implementations like an EMR rollout. Sounds like a no-brainer? Sure, but many organizations don't even go that far.

Bear in mind that blogs have many advantages over email blasts to your stakeholders, including: a) people can respond to announcements and debate issues publicly; b) blogs create an easily-accessible history of a project that can be helpful in the future; and c) if your blog is publicly available, you may get suggestions from strangers that help the project along.

If you're mostly interested in pumping out a message, don't forget podcasting and Internet radio. Vendor BlogTalkRadio.com, for example, allows you to create your own call-in radio talk show (supported by commercials from their advertisers, natch), which might be particularly useful if your project is controversial in your organization or within the community. Meanwhile, as far as podcasts are concerned, don't underestimate their value. The research we've reviewed suggests that doctors, for one, frequently download podcasts and listen to them while they exercise or travel.

What about Facebook and MySpace? Despite the throngs of gossipy teens hanging around the margins, social media networks like these can also play a role in IT projects. Like blogs, they offer useful mechanisms for dialog and debate, and even more powerfully, allow users to access their "friend" networks to bring in outside wisdom to challenging questions.

Besides, there's now 100-odd vendors out there whose technology offers you the ability to build your own "private-label" social network. If you're rolling out, say, a $200 million clinical information system with a five to seven year timeline, it might be worth creating your own social media network to support it. Hosted externally or in-house, open-source or proprietary, there's probably a social-media network vendor out there to fit your needs these days.

Then, there's the pioneering organizations that are venturing into the virtual world to demo software, model networks or even, in one case, build out a model of an entire hospital before it gets built and let people wander through to test out the layout. For the time being, this is likely to be an unusual approach, but if I were you, I'd keep my eye on developments that might make such experiments easier (and cheaper) to implement.

Of course, there's no substitute for old-fashioned handholding, good planning and face-to-face meetings with key stakeholders to build success for your IT project. But these days, with such powerful, easy-to-use communications tools available, you'd be crazy not to give them some thought. Just get started... it's easier than you think!- Anne