Last week I had the opportunity to attend a couple of conferences and speak at each of them. I wanted to share both my presentations and my observations from these two trips. I think there’s a little something for everyone.

Conference one was ePatient Connections in Philadelphia to start off the week. As I’ve said before, this is one of my favorite conferences of the year for a few reasons. First, it’s a diverse audience and group of speakers. There is certainly a lot of healthcare-specific content, but there are also presentations from outside healthcare (including the keynote talk from Seth Godin). I’ll tell you why I think this is important later. Second, each speaker gets 15 minutes max. That means a fast-moving conference that keeps your interest. It means that you get just enough from the really good presentations and the bad ones are over soon enough. Fortunately, there aren’t too many bad ones at this conference, but I know you’ve seen them before at other conferences (especially when they last 45-60 minutes).

I could make a ton of observations and review a bunch of topics that were presented, but others have already done a good job on that.

I actually just want to make one observation that I think everyone reading this ought to pay attention to. The final presentation on Day 1 was done by Dan Licht from Zemoga and Piers Fawkes from PSFK. They did a great presentation on how UNICEF is leveraging digital technology to advance many of its goals. Two things, however, stood out to me from Dan and Piers’ presentation. First, almost no one in the audience knew what PSFK was much less actually reads their blog and other thought leadership work. This is a huge miss. EVERYONE should be reading what PSFK puts out there. Subscribe to their updates and you won’t be sorry. They always have the latest in digital technology and marketing long before anyone else is talking about it. I hear many of you asking how it’s possible to stay up to date on the latest that’s out there and wondering where to look for inspiration for your  next idea. Well, if you’re not looking at PSFK as a source, then you’re not looking in the right places.

The other thing that stood out was the response to a simple question that Dan asked. He asked everyone who looks outside of healthcare for ideas and inspiration to raise their hands. From my informal count, I’d say that less than 10 of the 150+ people in attendance raised their hands. That’s not a good sign. If you’re wondering how the healthcare industry is going to catch up to other industries when it comes to digital technology, marketing, and, indeed, delivering what its customers expect, then you are seriously mistaken in my opinion. The innovation isn’t going to come from within healthcare. It is going to come from outside the industry with someone applying learnings from elsewhere to healthcare. The healthcare industry won’t invent healthcare innovation for itself. That’s not how industry-wide innovation works for the most part and especially not in healthcare when it comes to anything digital technology related. You need a diverse group of thinkers to enable real change (hence why I think having Seth Godin speak was a great choice).

When Dan asked that question, every single person in the audience should have raised their hand. I’ve received a lot of feedback from many people on this blog and the one positive thing that I hear pretty consistently is that people appreciate the different approach and thinking that I apply to many challenges in the healthcare industry. Where do you think these come from? I’ll give you a hint…it’s not from observing more healthcare companies. It comes from looking everywhere else and figuring out the one nugget that can be applied to solve a problem in healthcare. If you’re not doing this, you’re doing yourself and your company a major disservice.

That’s observation number 1 from conference number 1.

If you’re interested in my presentation from the conference, I’ve embedded it below. If you watch it and want to get a copy of my slides, you can download a copy of  Elephants Can Dance and Hippos Can Limbo (32 downloads). I’ll warn you before you watch the video. If you like the status quo and don’t want to hear my opinion on how the pharma industry must dramatically change in the future in order to remain solvent (including potentially not even selling drugs), then don’t watch the presentation. If you want an early warning of these changes and what to do about them, then please check it out. Special thanks to ePatient Connections for supplying the video (including editing).

Conference two was Social Media Week in Bogota, Colombia (that’s Bogota in the picture at the top of this post). Social Media Week happens each year around this time and simultaneously in multiple countries. I was invited to head down to Colombia to present an updated version of the talk I did at SXSW (Your Computer Is the Next Wonder Drug). Here’s another case where I think the healthcare industry could learn a lot from what’s happening outside the industry. In my presentation, I cite several of the biggest problems faced by the healthcare system and how the current approaches we use simply isn’t solving them. So, in my opinion, this means that we have to do things a bit differently. The main thesis is that we shouldn’t rely completely on new drugs to solve our problems, but rather to focus on using digital technology to make all of our approaches even more effective.

There are actually two big observations I’d like to share about my time in Colombia. First, nearly everyone in the room for my presentation was there to hear about social media. Only a handful had any experience or worked at all on anything related to healthcare. Despite this, they were incredibly engaged and had a ton of questions afterwards. What’s the point? They were all interested in how technology was going to play out in healthcare and, as far as I could tell, were thinking about their knowledge of digital technology and how they might use that to improve healthcare. I might venture to say that they’ll develop more solutions for healthcare than anyone who focuses entirely on healthcare. So, back to my first observation, everyone else is looking at other industries for innovation, but there’s one other point. They’re also looking at other industries for opportunity. Where they see no one leading or doing innovative things, they’re moving in. So, for all you agency folks that focus only on healthcare and never look outside, trust me, your days are numbered. Start studying before you’re displaced by others who offer the innovation your clients are demanding.

The second big observation is that Colombia has a talented and very hungry group of people with a lot of digital expertise waiting to unleash that all over the world. You probably haven’t considered an agency or a group of people from Colombia as a competitor if you’re based in the US or EU, but rest assured, you will eventually. Some of them will eat your lunch. Period. The workforce is full of ambitious and knowledgable folks who are looking for opportunities around the world (which is probably one of the reasons they focused on my presentation despite it being in English).

You can download a copy of my presentation on Slideshare if you want . Also, you can watch my presentation below if you’re interested. Two warnings. First, the Spanish translation is what you’ll hear, so if you don’t speak Spanish, it’ll probably be hard to follow. Also, about the first 10-15 minutes of the presentation is missing, so some of the context is lost. If you want to see a version that’s pretty close to this and in English check it out here.

Special thanks to the people at ProExport Colombia for sponsoring my trip to Bogota. They are responsible for promoting tourism and business in Colombia. I also got to meet and be interviewed by the folks from Cafe de Colombia, who are the people responsible for Juan Valdez. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to meet Juan, but others did. Seriously. Maybe next time. Thanks to everyone who made my trip to Colombia outstanding. Coming from the US, we have all these preconceived notions and stereotypes of Colombia, which I can tell you from experience are completely untrue. If you have a chance to get down there, take it.

Sure, I could get thrown out of the industry for that, but it’s what I believe.

For those who don’t believe me, I invite you to check out the presentation I gave last week at ePharma West. I talked about why the current system isn’t working, what might work, and what we’ll have to do differently to make our healthcare system more effective. You can watch and listen to my presentation below. Try it in HD and full screen to see the details (also try turning scaling off…there’s button you can click in the player after going full screen). If you want a copy of my slides, you can get them here:  What is the Future of Healthcare (719 downloads).

After watching the video, I invite you to leave your comments and let me know your opinion. Am I right on or completely off?

You’re probably thinking that I’m really stretching for some context with today’s post, but keep reading and I’m sure you’ll see the connection between John Madden and healthcare education. For those who don’t know, John Madden is a former NFL (American football for the non-US folks) coach and current announcer. He is also the namesake of one of the most popular video game franchises of all-time, Madden NFL from EA Sports. This game comes out as a new version each year and all-time has sold tens of millions of copies. It’s a must-purchase for many gamers.

One of the critical health issues facing NFL is concussions. In the past, concussions didn’t receive much attention and coaches routinely sent players back into the game after they “cleared their head” or “shook the cobwebs out.” Of course, a concussion is a potentially serious brain injury where the brain actually is bruised by hitting the inside of the skull. This is an all too typical occurence in football especially that the NFL level where players are much faster, stronger, and more aggressive than the amateur level. However, one of the few parts of the body you can’t strengthen to better withstand injuries is your brain. So, while players hit harder and more aggressively, their brains can still only withstand the same impact. Up until last year when the NFL implemented new rules regarding concussions, most players were sent back into the game as soon as possible. Now they are supposed to be kept from returning to the game if a concussion is diagnosed.

This issue carries down through all the levels of football including high school football. Most states and team conferences have rules regarding head injuries, but there is still a limited amount of understanding as to the seriousness of this condition. Coaches and kids don’t either realize that the injury occurred or the seriousness of it (or both). According to the New York Times, “Research suggests that 10 percent to 50 percent of high school football players will sustain a concussion each season, with as many as 75 percent of those injuries going unreported and unnoticed.”

Again, why am I telling you this and what do concussions and a video game have to do with one another? For the newest version of Madden NFL 12, the game is ratcheting up the seriousness of concussions and how they impact the game. From the New York Times’ interview with Madden: “…the coming version of the eerily true-to-life N.F.L. video game played by millions of gamers, will be realistic enough not only to show players receiving concussions, but also to show any player who sustains one being sidelined for the rest of the game — no exceptions. Beyond that, in the background, the game’s announcers will explain that the player was removed because of the seriousness of head injuries.”

This accomplishes something really interesting that those of you out there hoping to education people about any healthcare issue should take note of. Think about how the regular healthcare establishment would tackle the challenge of concussions. There’d be a public service announcement (PSA) probably with a celebrity or famous athlete that would attempt to either cajole or frighten kids to get the message. Look no further than the lack of success with PSAs around drug use and you’ll see that this wouldn’t work. There’d probably be posters in doctor’s offices (a place where kids fortunately don’t spend much time and aren’t paying attention to the signs) and maybe in locker rooms at some schools somewhere. These would also be dismissed and probably wouldn’t last long. And, because it’s the flavor of the day, there’d be a Facebook Page where you can “show your support” for the “cause” by Liking the Page or signing some sort of meaningless pledge. Stop me if I’m off at all.

None of this would work of course.

On the other hands, the folks that developed the game recognized an issue with their sport and the well-being of its athletes and they chose their game as a means to address that. The reasons why this will probably be the most effective way to educate kids about concussions are simple. First, you’ll reach a huge proportion of them where they are (opposite signs in a doctor’s office) and likely disproportionately reach actual football players too. You put the injury in context of something they can understand. That is, if a concussion happens to your player in the game, you see the effects in real-time. You see the impact and the announcers reinforce it. As a player, you can’t help but absorb this, as the game stops for a moment while a replacement comes into the game. What will eventually happen is that players of the game will alter how they play the game to reduce the chances that their key players end up with a concussion (Madden NFL developers plan to make certain hits in the game result more often in concussions). Consciously and subconsciously this changes the way you think about the real game of football as a player too.

This will work to educate the people that matter: football players, coaches, and parents of football players (who also will be playing the game). It will work because it will reach this audience where they are, with a message that is very much in context of what they are doing at that moment, at a time when they are receptive (whether they know it or not) to receiving this message, and in a form that’s simple to understand with clear cause and effect.

Think about the Madden NFL game next time you’re putting together a disease awareness campaign instead of thinking about the last PSA you saw interrupting the evening news.

The idea is simple and here’s how I described the talk on the SXSW site:

A few times each year, the press buzzes about the latest scientific advance that will someday cure any one of the diseases we fear the most. Nearly every one of these will turn out to be nothing more than a news story and far from a pill that can help improve our health.

We spend hundreds of millions of dollars every day on research, as we struggle to find the “magic bullet” that will rid the world of conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. We almost never find the magic.

While the big, historic scientific advances may be what dominate the headlines, in the end, it’s the small improvements and better utilization of the technology we have already have that will ultimately lengthen ourlives and improve its quality. These technologies don’t come from labs filled with test tubes or cell cultures, but rather from labs filled with computers and the programs that run them.

In the future, it will be digital technologies that prevent, treat, and finally cure diseases and not the latest “blockbuster” drug that has yet to be discovered (and might never be). Digital technologies can already help us understand which treatments are best for us, what diseases pose the greatest risk, and how diseases spread among us. They can improve our interactions with doctors and improve access to care for everyone.

Instead of waiting for the next miracle drug to be developed, you might find the miracle was there all along right inside the computer you use every day.

You’ll be hearing and seeing more about this topic on Dose of Digital in the future. It’s going to be the focus of a book I’m working on that I hope you’ll get to see sometime in the not terribly distant future (but think in terms of years, not months).

I was pleased with the way the talk went, but I wish more of you could have been there to hear it. Fortunately, I have a solution. Through the power of video, you can see what you missed right here. I’ll embed the video at the end of this post, but I recommend you click through to watch the HD version, in full screen mode, as you’ll be able to see more of the slide details.

By the way, if you work for a pharma company and are wondering why you should care about this, here’s the short answer:

In the future, digital technologies, and not blockbuster drugs, will  prevent, treat, and cure the diseases that kill us.

That means that the smart pharma companies should start looking at the way IBM evolved from a company that sells computers to one that sells services. Question is: can any pharma companies make this leap? I’ll be talking a lot more about this in the future, so stay tuned.

On with the video…here’s a direct link to the HD version. If the video below isn’t working on your device, then follow the direct link. It’ll work on any device including iPhones and iPads. Advance warning, the video is 50 minutes, so set some time aside. I think it’ll be worth it.

Your Computer Is the Next Wonder Drug from Jonathan Richman on Vimeo.

Special thanks to my creative team of Scott Hoverman, Colleen Reed, and John Cobb (who did the illustrations) for making me look good by designing the presentation that didn’t look quite as nice in the draft version I created.

I’m still looking for more examples of the types of technologies you will see in the presentation for future talks and blog posts (and for the book). If you know of one or you company makes one, then I want to hear about it. Use the contact form to get in touch with me.

Tomorrow morning (6am flight for some reason), I’m off to the annual SXSW conference in Austin. For those who read this blog and work in healthcare and always have, you might not even know what the conference is. You should. It’s become the premier digital technology, media, and marketing conference in the world over the past few years. While there are film and music tracks to the conference, the biggest part is now the interactive track. So, if you have anything with digital technology (including using a computer), you might look into this conference. CNN actually had a nice article today about why SXSW matters. And for the first time this year, there’s actually a dedicated group of health-related sessions.

That’s one of the reasons I’m going. I’m interested in a few of the health-related sessions, but I’m not going to solely focus my time there. I’ve heard a lot of it already. Instead, I’m going for two big reasons. First, I’m speaking there (that’s slide number 1 at the top of this post). More on that in a minute. Second, I’m always on the lookout for what other industries are doing and what’s up and coming and trying to figure out how pharma and healthcare companies can leverage it. It’s usually years before healthcare companies adopt things that are old hat in other companies. This is especially true when it comes to digital technology and marketing. Looking at what other pharma companies are doing in digital in hopes of learning something will teach you one thing:

Nothing.

I won’t debate the reasons why this is the case (there are quite a lot of them actually). One that I won’t accept is that it’s a highly regulated industry. That’s not a reason to not pay attention to the latest digital technology. Sure, that doesn’t mean to run out and do every new thing that comes along. Some are appropriate and some are not. But what’s the regulatory issue with using HTML5? What’s the legal challenge with mobile applications? Nothing. There is no issue with the technology, but rather how you apply it. If you don’t know what the technology is or how it works, you’ll never understand where the issues are and where they are not. More importantly, you’ll miss a lot of opportunities to provide value to your customers in new and better ways.

Anyways….

Off the soapbox for a minute and let me sum up. Check out this conference and find out what’s new out there (and how to better use that which already exists). If you don’t understand it or understand the application of something, ask someone. If you don’t have a someone, ask me.

Onto the second reason why I’m attending. I’m speaking at SXSW on a topic I’ve called “Your Computer Is the Next Wonder Drug.” Read more about it here. The one sentence summary of my talk goes like this:

In the future, digital technologies, and not blockbuster drugs, will  prevent, treat, and cure the diseases that kill us.

That’s right. Read it again.

My talk is all about how we can better leverage digital technologies (most of which exist today already) to dramatically improve our health. Developing a new drug is a gamble. The FDA approved only 21 new drugs last year. The amount spent on R&D by pharma companies last year?

$60 billion.

Something’s not working.

If you’re a pharma company, what I’m sharing in my talk should make you a little nervous, but it’s not the end of pharma companies. We still need their treatments, but we need to use them better and find new ways to use them. Digital technology can help with that. What this all means for pharma companies is that they may have to start thinking more like a services company and less like a manufacturer. IBM used to sell computers. They don’t anymore. They make all (almost) of their money from services because they weren’t making money selling computers. That day is coming for pharma companies and none of them have started in the direction of IBM, so it’s wide open.

Don’t believe me? Come and check out my presentation or check back here afterwards to hear (and maybe see) it. You can follow any live tweeting from my session via the hashtag #hcinno (as in “healthcare innovation”). It’s 9:30am on Sunday, March 13 at the Hilton Garden Inn Rio room (if you’re coming person). If you’re a reader and attend the session, please come and say hello afterwards.

If you’re interested in following the goings on of the rest of the conference, a number of my colleagues from Possible Worldwide and I will be attending and live blogging about everything we see and hear. There might be a few things to blush at, but we’ll keep it safe for work. Keep up with it all here: http://possiblesxsw.posterous.com.

Looking forward to seeing everyone down in Austin.

In case you didn’t notice, Facebook just released some dramatic changes to the way Pages work. It’s a massive upgrade that I see as something that makes it much easier for brands to use Facebook (even pharma and healthcare brands). I’m going to try to run through these changes and show you what’s new and how to use it. There have already been some good overviews of the changes (here’s Facebook’s official release), so I’m going to try to inform you of a few things that I haven’t seen talked about much and also give you a couple of tips I haven’t seen yet. I’ll also throw in a few new tricks too.

Note: This is more of a “white paper” than a post, so if really long blog posts make you nervous, you can download a PDF of this post from this link: Facebook Pages Just Got Easier for Brands

Here are a few tricks I’ll reveal in this post:

• A way to embed a Like button and other social programs into any tab (no more arrows pointing to the like button at the top of the page)
• A potential way to pre-moderate (i.e., review before they are posted) every user comment left on your Page
• How to comment and Like items on Facebook as your Page and not just as you personally
• Better control the order of your Wall posts and how users see the Wall

Beyond changing how Pages work, Facebook also changed how applications can be coded. FBML (Facebook Markup Language) is going away and now developers can now use iframes. Without going into too much detail, this will allow people to code Facebook applications (and therefore custom “tabs”) using standard coding languages that have more flexibility than FBML. It also allows for some tricks that haven’t been possible before. Stay tuned until the end of the post for one of the biggest ones I’ve noticed, adding a Like button to a tab.

We’ll be using the Dose of Digital’s Facebook page as an example throughout (feel free to Like us now).

Here’s what new Facebook Pages look like (click to enlarge):

Two big things you’ll notice right away. First, there are no more tabs along the top of the page. Second, there’s a new strip of photos along the top of the page. Your tabs have been moved to the left column. Here’s what it looks like:

Of note, while this upsets some page owners who like tabs and think this will confuse people, recall that personal profiles have looked like this for quite some time. So, people are used to seeing Facebook’s navigation work like this. I don’t see it as a major issue. As the page owner, you can change the order of these links too. Just click on “More” and then “Edit” at the bottom of the expanded list. You can remove any links and drag and drop to reorder them. Make sure your top 5 or 6 are up towards the top because that’s what most people will see by default and they won’t click “More” in most cases.

There’s also this new banner of pictures across the top of the page. It too is just like the newly designed personal pages. Of note, you cannot do some of the tricks you can do with your personal profile by carefully ordering the images via tagging them in a certain order (see here for examples). For whatever reason, these pictures seem to randomly ordered and selected from all photos posted in all albums on your Page. As the Page owner, if you don’t want a particular picture to show up, you can roll over it and click the “X”. Remove as many as you want. Note that this only removes the picture from the photo bar. It does not delete it from your albums. If you decide later that you removed too many or the wrong one by accident, you can reset the photo bar and all the photos you removed will be back (showing five at a time in random order). The way to do this is to go to “Edit Page”, select “Profile Picture” and then click the “Unhide All” button at the bottom of this window.

EDIT: Thanks to David Sanger for pointing out that if you tag images with the Page, they will show up selectively in the photo strip. That is, if you tag five photos with the Page, then those will be the only five that show up in the photo strip. However, they will still be displayed in random order. But, if you want to control which specific images show up in the photo strip, you can use tagging to accomplish that. One bit of caution: we noticed that after you tag an image, when it appears back in the strip it seems to be adjusted up and to the right (i.e., it’s no longer centered in the frame). This makes all the photos look a little odd. Either they look odd in the strip or you can correct them to account for this shift, but then they look odd if people open them. Not ideal in either situation. I’d guess that this shifting is a temporary bug though.

Also in the left column are a few other changes. The number of fans is now reduced to just a number (e.g., “1297 People Like this” in the picture above). It used to have a handful of pictures of people who have liked the page. More on that in a minute. This is followed by “Featured Likes.” As the Page owner, you can dictate which five other pages show up here. For example, this may include the pages of your other brands or corporate accounts.  You can only have 5 at a time, but you can set as many other Featured Likes as you want and Facebook will rotate them. The way to do this is to go to “Edit Page”, select “Featured” and then click the “Add Featured Likes” button. Pick the Likes you want to rotate here. If you want to add more Likes than the ones you see here, there are a few ways to do this. The simplest is to navigate to the page you want to Like and in the bottom of the left column click “Add to my Page’s Favorites.” From the pop-up, you can then pick which page you want to Like this new page from a list of all the pages you admin. More on this in a minute too.

I mentioned that the images of your “fans” had been removed from the left column. That’s been moved to the right side now. It now shows each user’s relationship to the page. That is, all the friends a user that Like the page you are on appear here. Also shown are pages that you Like that the page Likes. For example, the Page has ShareThis as one of it’s featured Likes. Since I also like ShareThis in my personal profile, it shows up here.

And finally, the Page profile picture size has changed. The maximum dimensions are 180×540 px (w x h). Most pages don’t use this space as effectively as possible. There’s no way to “brand” your Facebook Page Wall like you can your own website, but if you use the maximum space for the profile picture, then you own a lot of the space on the page. Think of it more like a banner ad and less like a profile picture. You can change it whenever you want maybe to highlight a new promotion, for example.

Those are the big cosmetic changes. There are also some big functionality changes too that page owners should know about. First, the Wall now shows posts differently than before.  Previously, you could sort the pages with three different views as a user (and admin): just the page’s own posts, a mix of users’s and page’s posts, or just users’ posts. Like this:

That’s different now. Now there are only two views for users: Everyone and the page (“Dose of Digital” in the image below). The names are pretty self-explanatory.

As the page admin, you can control which users see by default. Head over to your “Edit Page” area and click on “Manage Permissions”. You’ll see this:

In that red box, you can select “Only Posts by Page” or “Everyone”. Whatever you select here will be what shows up as the default setting for the Wall. If you select, Only Posts by Page, the Wall posts will be shown in chronological order and will only include posts created by the page (smart naming, right?). However, if you select, “Everyone” here or a user selects “Everyone” while on the Wall, all bets are off. The big change is that what displays for “Everyone” is not in chronological order, but in order of “popularity.” Facebook doesn’t define what this means, but suffice it to say that it probably uses some version of the algorithm they use to order posts in your personal News Feed (read this for more info).

Some page owners are really upset by this, as they’ve become quite used to having a certain order to their Wall. However, this change does favor users. Many people want to see what everyone else finds interesting (that’s how the “Top News” setting works on your personal News Feed), so this works perfectly for them. As the page owner, you cannot change the order of the posts in the “Everyone” Wall display except by deleting posts (which you do the same way as you always have…roll over and click the “X”).

Now, if your Page has a lot of user comments, it can be difficult to manage since the posts aren’t in any logical order. This makes moderating a real challenge. Never fear, Facebook has a solution for that. Over in the left column, under Wall, you’ll see an “Admin View” link (only if you’re an admin of that Page, of course).

If you click that, you see this (note: I captured only the top of the page):

You’ll notice you can select “Most Recent” and “Hidden Posts.” Most Recent is just what it sounds like…every post from both the Page and users in chronological order. Moderate or respond to user posts here to make sure you haven’t missed anything. Clicking on Hidden Posts shows you a different list. These are posts from users that currently are not displayed on the Wall to users. This Hidden Posts view might contain a few things: posts that have automatically flagged by Facebook as potential spam, posts you as an admin have flagged as spam, and any posts that contain words from the Moderation Blocklist. You can restore any posts that have  erroneously been pushed to the Hidden View tab here as well. Click the “X” next to the post and select “Unhide post.”

Wait…Moderation Blocklist? What’s that? Good question…it’s new.

Under Edit Page, select “Manage Permissions.” You’ll see this:

This is a really handy feature for any brand that’s been wanting some way to “pre-moderate” posts by users on Facebook. That is, a way to review posts before they are published to the Wall. Prior to this Page update, there was no way to do this. Now you have somewhat of a way to do it. Somewhat because you can’t pre-moderate everything, but you can do it for posts that contain words that indicate a specific topic that present an issue for sure. For example, for pharma companies, if you have an unbranded page that cannot mention the brand name of your product, you can include your drug name in the Blocklist and have all these posts held in moderation for review. Theoretically, it’s possible to pre-moderate every comment that comes in, but you’d need to include every word in every language in that box. If you want to give it a shot, here’s a list of common English words (in comma separated form). This wasn’t really the intent of the tool, but you could use it like this if you want. This list of words would catch a big proportion of posts from users. Might be an interesting solution until Facebook comes up with a way to pre-moderate every user post.  If you do attempt this, just remember that people can post in any language. Also, let me know in the comments how this works for you.

You can also block profanity here including selecting how conservative or aggressive you want to be. This list comes from what Facebook has gathered from people flagging posts all over Facebook as offensive.

Okay…a couple more features before I get onto my big trick.

Under Edit Page and “Your Settings”, you can now do two things that many people have been asking for for a long time.

First, email notifications. Check this box and you’ll receive an email when someone comments on your page. Handy. You used to have to set this up via third-party applications, which in my experience were always a little spotty. Alternatively, you could have used a Facebook management platform like Buddy Media and Vitrue, which had notifications as a standard feature. You get it now for free. One important thing to note is that you’ll get an email after every comment with this new Facebook feature. So, for a Page that gets a lot of comments, that’s potentially a lot of emails.

The second setting here allows you to switch around the way you comment and Like things on Facebook. By default, when you comment on your Page, you comment as the page and not as yourself (i.e., your personal profile). If you uncheck the Posting Preferences box (and Save Changes), you’ll start commenting on your page using your personal profile. To switch back to commenting as your Page on your Page, you can either go back to the Edit Page settings and check that box or go to the “Account” link in the upper right and select “Use Facebook as Page.” Like this:

If you select “Use Facebook as Page,” you’ll see a pop up with all of the Pages you admin. Select the one you want to use. From this point forward (until you switch back in the same manner), you are using Facebook as if your Page was a person. You can comment on and Like posts from other Pages and Like Pages. You still cannot make friends with people as a Page. That’s still reserved for humans only. You can also post on any Page’s Wall. This latter ability is sure to result in a massive amount of spam early on as people figure out some informal etiquette for using this new ability. That is, I guarantee you’ll see some Pages commenting all over the Walls of other popular Pages in hopes that they might get a couple people to clickthrough and like their Page.

Don’t do this. If you have a legitimate comment to make and it makes sense to do it as a specific Page, go for it. Don’t use it to spam the Walls of every other Page I guarantee it won’t work out well in the long run.

You’ll notice that when you switch to using Facebook as a Page that the top bar of Facebook changes.

Instead of showing if you have new messages or if people have commented on your personal posts, it shows the number of followers (the “1K” in this image). The number next to the earth icon will show recent activity on the Page that you’re currently using.

Okay…here comes the big trick. Thanks for sticking around.

You’ve probably all found yourself on a Facebook page and have seen something like this:

(Try it out on the BMW page for yourself).

This is the default landing page for anyone who has not already Liked the page. You can set this by going to Edit Page, then Manage Permissions. Select the tab you want to be the landing tab under “Default Landing Tab.” Note that there is no way to change the default tab for those who have already Liked the page. They go to the Wall by default.

It’s a good idea to have a default landing tab. It can increase the conversions of your visitors to Likes. An additional tactic is to require that you Like a page before you can get access to additional content. They’re often called “reveal tabs.” There’s one on Dose of Digital’s Facebook page on the tab for new publications. [If you want to know what a reveal tab is and how to do this, then check out this great post from All Facebook.]

I want to show you a better way to get people to Like your page on these tabs besides the big arrow pointing to the Like button at the top of the page. You can do it now since iframes are supported in the tabs. One word of caution. I’m going to give the very simple explanation of how to do this, but even this will be a bit complex for some people. I’ll do my best.

Most Facebook tabs now use the Static FBML application from Facebook and are written in FBML. You can’t use iframes in this type of tab. What that means is that you can’t embed any of the Facebook Social Plugins into your tabs. This includes the Like button, which is why Pages are left putting a big, unsightly arrow on their Page tabs to show you the way. With this new update, this is no longer true. You can make a tab that has a functional Like button right in the tab. Like this (see red box):

You do have to code the page a little differently, but the good news is that you can use basic HTML, which is really simple and every programmer knows. The challenge is that you cannot use the Static HTML application. You have to create your own Facebook application. This sounds really hard, but you’re not creating Farmville (thankfully). Applications can be really simple and consist of just a few lines of code. Here’s how you do it.

First, let’s code our application. We’re going to make this as simple as possible…just a few words and the Like button. You can make it as complex as you want once you have the basic idea down. Get out your favorite coding program. For something simple like this, try out Notepad + (it’s free and works great). Again, as basic as possible, here’s an example of what you can include in your file:

Hello. This is my Facebook page. I love it. You should too.

To access some great content, be sure to Like our page before you leave.

Just click the Like button below and head over to the Wall to say hello.

<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fdoseofdigital&layout=button_count&show_faces=false&width=450&action=like&colorscheme=light&height=21" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:21px;" allowTransparency="true">

Save your file with the name “index.php” (be sure to save it as a .php file type).

A couple of things to note. The code for the iframe you see here will produce a Like button for the Dose of Digital Facebook page. You’re welcome to keep that in your tab, but if you want your own, just grab the code from here. Select how you want your Like button to look, click “Get Code” and copy and paste the iframe code (not the XFBML) in place of mine. Also, note that I added the line “head over to the Wall to say hello.” This is intentional. If someone clicks this Like button in the tab, it will be recorded instantly as a Like, but the Like button at the top of the screen will still be there. Like this:

This Like button will remain until the user clicks to another location in Facebook or refreshes the Page. There is fancy way to automatically refresh the page using Javascript, but that’s a bit out of the scope of this little tutorial. If anyone wants to post an update on how to do this, please add it to the comments. So, my little line about “head over to the Wall” effectively refreshes the Page.

EDIT: I’ve now got a semi-simple way to create this it so that when you do click the Like button, the Page automatically updates. It’s a bit more complex than the process outlined here, so I’ll save it for another post when I can detail it out. If you really need to know right now how to do it, then use the contact form to let me know and I’ll send it to you.

EDIT of EDIT: Here’s a link to a post where I explain the technique to set up the Like button in a tab so that the Page automatically updates after you click it (as I referred to in the above EDIT). The Right Way to Use the Facebook Like Button.

Save your file. Now you need to host it somewhere. That is, you need to host the file somewhere on a server. If you’ve got your own hosting account, use that. If you don’t know how to host a file, then I’ve probably lost you already. Sorry…can’t make it any simpler. You can get a hosting account from any one of the millions of providers. If you don’t have an account anywhere, try out iPage. It’s simple and cheap. They also have really good help via live chat, so they can talk you through the entire process.

Once your file is hosted somewhere, make note of the full path to your file, something like this:

http://www.myhostingsite.com/facebookstuff/app/index.php

Next step is to create the application on Facebook. Go here and click “Set up New App” in the upper-right (note: you’ll have to give permissions before moving on, do this).

On the next screen, name your app and accept the terms, create the app. Get past the CAPTCHA.

You’ll now see your basic app information. Here you can add an icon if you want and include a description. The icon will be used in the left column list of “tabs” on your Page, so it’s probably worth having.

Click on “Facebook Integration” in the left column. I’m not going to explain everything on this page except what you need to know. Remember, this is just the basics. First, the Canvas area.

For the blank next to “Canvas Page,” this can be anything. The only rule is that it can’t be something anyone else has used. It’s the unique URL that points to your application. Come up with something unique related to your Page if possible. You’ll get an error if you select something that’s already taken.

For “Secure Canvas URL,” you need to put in the full path to the folder where the file with the code for your page will reside (you got this link in the previous step and I told you to make a note of it).

The path you want to put here should direct to the folder where the file is located, not the file itself. So, it might be this: http://www.myhostingsite.com/facebookstuff/app/, but it shouldn’t be: http://www.myhostingsite.com/facebookstuff/app/index.php. Leave off the file name. Be sure that you include the trailing slash or this whole thing won’t work.

Head down to the bottom of the page to this area:

This is where you’ll define what the tab will be called.

Tab Name is up to you. This will appear at the top of the tab within your page and also in the left column of your page, so make it something good. You’ve only got 16 characters though, so make it brief too.

For Tab URL, this is where you will put in the file name that has the code for your application. So, if this is the full path to your application, http://www.myhostingsite.com/facebookstuff/app/index.php, then just put “index.php” in this box (without quotes). Leave off everything else.

You can leave Edit URL blank.

That’s it. Save Changes. You should be on a page that shows your new app name at the top and three zeros across the middle of the screen. If you don’t, go here and select the app you just created from the list in the left column. Click on “Application Profile Page”:

In the left column of the Application Profile Page, click “Add to My Page.” Select the page to which you want to add the application we just created.

Almost done.

Next, head over to the Page you just added the app to and select Edit Page. Click on “Apps” in the left column. Find the name of the application you just created. Click “Edit Settings” under the app.

In the pop-up, you’ll see “Available (add)”. Click “add”. There will now be a new tab consisting of your app in the left column of your page. Earlier in this post, I showed you how to reorder the list of tabs, so do that if you want. Also, if you want to make this new tab your default landing tab for those who haven’t Liked your page yet, you can do this too. I showed you how to do this earlier as well.

That’s it. Knock yourself out and edit the code however you want to include images, style it however you want, and include whatever text you need. One more note (thanks to Mari Smith for pointing this out)…the Like button will only be there if someone views the tab using their personal profile. If they view as a Page (we noted how you do this earlier), the button won’t be there. This seems to be true of all Facebook Like buttons and social plugins. Probably a short-term issue, but you never know. The main Like button at the top of the Page works fine.

There are definitely some things to get used to with the new Facebook Pages. You have until March 11, 2011 before every Page is changed automatically. You can decide if you want to switch over before then. Best of luck. If you run into technical problems with any of this information, leave a comment and I’ll try to help out. If you found this helpful, why not Like Dose of Digital on Facebook:

Those of you who follow this blog closely know that I’ve started to focus a lot of what I do on finding digital innovations in healthcare and pharma. These are the innovations that use digital technology to improve our health. Here’s my simple manifesto:

“In the future, it will be digital technologies that prevent, treat, and finally cure diseases and not the latest “blockbuster” drug that has yet to be discovered (and might never be).”

How’s that coming from a “pharma guy”? In any event, it’s been my ambition to write a book on this subject and I already have started some content for it, but it’s got a long way to go. However, one of the first steps to spread the word about this concept is an upcoming speaking gig that I have at SXSW. If you don’t know what SXSW is, then check it out  on their site, but this is how they describe it:

“SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders, the incredible new SXSW Trade Show and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new digital works, video games and innovative ideas the international community has to offer.”

This isn’t a healthcare-focused conference. The focus is on technology, so I’m trying to merge the two: healthcare and technology. I was pleased when my proposal to speak at the conference was accepted (largely thanks to all of  your support and comments on the SXSW site). You can read the full proposal here (Note: if you try to find my talk in the SXSW schedule, it’s not there. Apparently, their database has some issues, but I am actually scheduled to speak on Sunday, March 13).

Since being accepted (and for quite a while before that), I’ve been gathering up examples of how technology is being used today to improve healthcare. I’ve shared some of these with you along the way, but expect to see more going forward. This is what today’s post is all about. I’m looking for even more examples of companies and products that are bringing digital innovations to healthcare, which are impacting our health in a positive way. So, if you’ve got a product at your company or have seen one elsewhere and want to be a part of my presentation at SXSW, then I want to hear from you. Use the form at the end of this post to tell me a bit  about what you’ve got and I’ll be in touch. I promise to respond to everyone (except you spammers) to let you know if it’s a fit for the presentation. I expect this to be a nice PR opportunity for the technologies that I ultimately include, so here’s your chance to get your name out there.

Okay…before you rush to the form, what am I talking about when I say “digital technology in healthcare”? It’s a bit open ended for sure, but I’m focusing on software (including websites, apps, etc.) and devices (like Nike+, FitBit, etc.). It should be something that is designed to impact someone’s health whether that be to prevent, treat, or cure a disease. I’m not necessarily looking for innovative medical devices such as the da Vinci Surgical System (but it’s pretty awesome), but I’m open to hearing about them too. I’ve got a little bias towards software-focused items, but let’s hear it all. I’ll definitely be including some devices.

Let me give you a great example I just found. Ironically, this innovation was being discussed on the Healthy Thinkers community (join now and contribute, BTW). Someone came up with the idea of needing a way to find people nearby with medical training in case of an emergency (link to idea). The basic idea was this: after you call 911 (to start a formal emergency response), then a secondary alert would go out to the mobile devices of people nearby who have registered as willing and able to provide emergency help. Imagine if you urgently needed a doctor and an ambulance was 5 minutes away, but a doctor (or paramedic) was in the store next to where you were. That person could help instantly if they only knew that someone needed help.

I thought that was an amazing idea. Consider the case of sudden cardiac arrests, for example, receiving CPR immediately is one of the top predictors of survival. Even a minute of delay has a major impact. So, finding someone who is just steps away would have a major impact on survival. So, there’s an example…a digital technology that improves health. In this case, it’s an alert system that could, ultimately, improve the survival rates of sudden cardiac arrests. Great idea, right?

Well, I’m pleased to say that while we were debating how to do this, someone had already been hard at work on bringing this concept to life (independent of our community). I was floored when I found this earlier in the week. Rather than try to describe what it is and how it works, I’m going to just show you the video they created to announce it to the public. I’m showing you this video for a few reasons. First, it describes the technology better than I could and better than text. Second, watch it and remember it the next time you’re in charge of creating a product demo. THIS is how it is done. Third, it’s captivating (not bad for what amounts to a 90-second commercial). If you don’t get the chills watching this, then have someone call for an ambulance for you. Here goes (hint: watch it full screen for maximum impact):

Pretty amazing on a number of levels, right? If you want to find out more about the app, you can go here.

That’s an app from a fire department, but to me is clearly a digital technology that will impact our health. There are plenty more from companies that are focused in healthcare. Stay tuned to see more. In the meantime, if you’ve seen something that you think fits what I’m looking for, I want to hear about it. Fill out the form below and I’ll be in touch.