Envisioning 2.0

Please note that a version of this post appeared on the blog HealthCareVox.

Early last month, I announced that I had launched a new initiative called the Path of the Blue Eye project.  It is designed to foster greater collaboration and knowledge sharing among people in the health marketing communications field.  It was a risky move, but it appears to be paying off.

We are still in the early days of the project, but I’m very pleased that nearly 200 people from companies and organizations like Johnson & Johnson, AIDS.gov, Novartis, Shire, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, OrganizedWisdom and Digitas have joined the movement via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail.

In addition, we launched a blog, titled Walking the Path, and invited people from across the health industry to contribute.  Once again, I have been delighted by the response.  In addition to myself, five well-regarded experts, including Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, David Harlow and Nedra Kline Weinreich, have agreed to develop content for the Weblog.

What does all of this activity suggest?  Well, it means that the Path of the Blue Eye project is getting stronger each day.  It’s real, serious and here to stay.

However, as I expected, it is taking a lot of work.  In addition to fulfilling my client responsibilities, we are building a collaboration hub and forging partnerships with a range of organizations.  Something’s got to give.  Today I’m announcing that as of this post I will no longer be writing Envisioning 2.0.

As you can imagine this was a difficult decision.  I started writing this blog in January 2006 when the health blogging world was a lot smaller than it is today.  I have been (and remain) hugely appreciative of all those who have diligently read, commented on and shared my content over the years.  You all played a big role in helping make Envisioning 2.0 what it is today.

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As readers of this blog may be aware, my firm Envision Solutions and Trusted.MD Network are currently fielding the second global survey of healthcare bloggers.

Since the launch of the poll in August, more than 110 bloggers have taken the survey. We are grateful for the support of everyone participating in this exciting project. We’d also like to thank everyone who has posted about the survey, including Cary Byrd and Jan Martens who maintain the Healthcare 100 and MedBlogEN listings of top health and medical blogs.

If you have not yet taken a few minutes to participate in the survey, please click here to do so.

I will be taking a break from blogging for the rest of the year.  I will return during the first week of January.

I’d like to thank:

- Everyone who has subscribed to and read this blog over the past year

- All those who have agreed to be interviewed for articles

- All those who have left comments and helped to spark additional conversation and posts.

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Earlier this year, my firm Envision Solutions and The Medical Blog Network launched the first global survey of healthcare bloggers. Today, we released the results of this poll, which will be discussed during the Healthcare Blogging Summit this afternoon in Washington DC.

Following are some key results of this survey:

- Many bloggers are writing for altruistic or personal reasons, i.e., to share their experiences or educate others

- A number of bloggers hide their identity to protect themselves, friends, family, patients and careers

- Many respondents view their fellow bloggers’ statements with a critical eye. However, they are confident most bloggers will make it easy for them to access a range of perspectives via their blogs

- About half of those contacted by PR professionals write posts based on information they receive from them

- Respondents are split on whether running advertising compromises the integrity of healthcare bloggers. However, many are willing to invite advertisers to appear to their blogs

Click here to download the full results of this survey.

Dale Hunscher, who writes the blog FutureHIT, which focuses on healthcare information technology, has just published a very interesting and useful book, Business Blogging For Healthcare Professionals.

I took some time this morning to read through an excerpt of the book. From what I’ve read thus far, it is clear, concise and full of excellent advice for busy healthcare professionals thinking about why/how to start a blog.

Two people I respect, Dmitriy Kruglyak, publisher of The Medical Blog Network and Carol Kirschner, who writes Driving in Traffic have endorsed the book. Learn more about it here.

As readers of this blog may be aware, my firm Envision Solutions and The Medical Blog Network (TMBN) are currently fielding the first global survey of healthcare bloggers. Since the launch of the poll in July, more than 160 bloggers have taken the survey. We are grateful for the support of everyone participating in this exciting project.

Dmitriy Kruglyak, publisher of TMBN, has just published a post reminding readers of his blog about the survey. In addition, he has posted links to the 34 blogs that have published information about the survey thus far. Please go over to his blog and visit the fine Weblogs that have helped us spread the word about this important study.

If you have not yet taken a few minutes to participate in the survey, please click here to do so. In addition, please consider posting about the study on your Weblog to inform others about this project. TMBN and Envision Solutions will release the final results of the poll at the 2006 Healthcare Blogging Summit taking place in Washington DC on December 11.

I am pleased to announce the launch of the first comprehensive global study of healthcare bloggers, the “Taking the Pulse of the Healthcare Blogopshere” survey. The poll, which is co-produced by my firm Envision Solutions, LLC and The Medical Blog Network, is the first systematic attempt to gather comprehensive opinion and demographic data from the global community of healthcare bloggers. Please click here to read a press release about the survey.

Some key facts about the survey:

- The 2006 edition of the survey will run from July 31 to September 29. It is open
to individuals and organizations that devote at least 30% of their blogging time to healthcare-related topics. To learn more about the survey, please click here.

- Envision Solutions and TMBN will release the preliminary results of the survey in the late fall. The final results will be presented at Healthcare Blogging Summit 2006 taking place in Washington, D.C. on December 11.

- Envision Solutions and TMBN will collect and analyze data provided by a global sample of healthcare bloggers willing to take the survey. While the data is expected to provide new insights into the attitudes and behaviors of this community, we acknowledge that we may be surveying the most active bloggers and caution against applying the data to the overall healthcare blogopshere.

I hope that readers of this blog focusing on healthcare will take the time to take the survey and post about it on your Weblogs. The more respondents we gather data from, the stronger the survey.

Thanks and please feel free to contact me with any questions about the study.

A couple of quick hits today:

New Blog Carnival

[Name redacted] has launched a new blog carnival, The Patient-Consumer Parade. He started the blog partly because he was diagnosed with a rare bone disease. The first Patient-Consumer Parade will be up at www.patient-consumer.com on July 3. To submit a post, please use this blog carnival submission form or e-mail him at patient-consumer@marketmdmag.com.

Abortion Backgrounder

Norma Todd of Stateline.org sent me an e-mail about a new abortion backgrounder. It includes information about the states that will have a significant influence on the future of abortion. Click here to learn more about it.