Comments on: Something’s up at Sermo. Maybe CEO Daniel Palestrant Will Tell Us What it Is… http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2007/07/14/somethings-up-at-sermo-maybe-ceo-daniel-palestrant-will-tell-us-what-it-is/ Business + Technology in the Exponential Economy Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:30:41 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Benson A. Babu M.D. http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2007/07/14/somethings-up-at-sermo-maybe-ceo-daniel-palestrant-will-tell-us-what-it-is/comment-page-1/#comment-1970 Benson A. Babu M.D. Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:58:13 +0000 http://www.xconomy.com/2007/07/14/somethings-up-at-sermo-maybe-ceo-daniel-palestrant-will-tell-us-what-it-is/#comment-1970 A brilliant concept. Now physicans have a quick venue to obtain the answers we need about the inherent challenges in patient care. A brilliant concept. Now physicans have a quick venue to obtain the answers we need about the inherent challenges in patient care.

]]> By: Rebecca Zacks http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2007/07/14/somethings-up-at-sermo-maybe-ceo-daniel-palestrant-will-tell-us-what-it-is/comment-page-1/#comment-148 Rebecca Zacks Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:25:30 +0000 http://www.xconomy.com/2007/07/14/somethings-up-at-sermo-maybe-ceo-daniel-palestrant-will-tell-us-what-it-is/#comment-148 It seems like in most arenas where doctors, drug companies, and medical information come together---I'm thinking medical journals and conferences, drug marketing, etc---full identification and disclosure is critical for managing conflicts of interest. But Sermo users are, so far, anonymous to one another. What's going to happen when you add pharma companies to the mix? And come to think of it, how do you know there aren't already drug-company representatives among Sermo users? Plenty of pharmaceutical executives and drug reps have MDs, after all---will they have to identify themselves? It seems like in most arenas where doctors, drug companies, and medical information come together—I’m thinking medical journals and conferences, drug marketing, etc—full identification and disclosure is critical for managing conflicts of interest. But Sermo users are, so far, anonymous to one another. What’s going to happen when you add pharma companies to the mix? And come to think of it, how do you know there aren’t already drug-company representatives among Sermo users? Plenty of pharmaceutical executives and drug reps have MDs, after all—will they have to identify themselves?

]]> By: Daniel Palestrant http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2007/07/14/somethings-up-at-sermo-maybe-ceo-daniel-palestrant-will-tell-us-what-it-is/comment-page-1/#comment-147 Daniel Palestrant Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:03:44 +0000 http://www.xconomy.com/2007/07/14/somethings-up-at-sermo-maybe-ceo-daniel-palestrant-will-tell-us-what-it-is/#comment-147 The uniqueness of Sermo’s business is that our greatest asset is our community. The community guides us, the community entrusts us with the custodianship of this asset, and ultimately anything that we do must be reconciled by that community. Fortunately, our product, our medium is inherently feedback based. We have only to listen because the community is CONSTANTLY telling us what they like and don’t like. In the case of Sermo’s future with pharmaceutical companies, something very unexpected happened. Several months ago we started getting more and more feedback from our community that the pharmaceutical industry “needs a seat at the table”. In other words, our physicians started saying that if Sermo is a voice for physicians, parties that can act on that voice need to be somehow be engaged. Pharmaceutical companies are critical stake holders in the healthcare industry, playing such a critical role in developing the treatments that empower physicians to treat patients. Meanwhile, the Sermo community was very clearly and very vividly surfacing some very contentious issues around their perception of current industry practices. This made it obvious to Sermo that if we were ever to consider engaging with industry we would need to find an approach that is a significant departure from the current norm. Right around this time, Sermo started getting approached by many industry leaders who were asking how they could re-create the relationship that they have with physicians. These two trends, a desire from physicians to work with industry, and industry’s desire to change their ways, created an interesting opportunity. For several months now Sermo has been working with members from both constituencies to find areas of common ground. The results have been absolutely fascinating and unexpected. We don’t have it figured out yet, but we seem to be closing in fast. The uniqueness of Sermo’s business is that our greatest asset is our community. The community guides us, the community entrusts us with the custodianship of this asset, and ultimately anything that we do must be reconciled by that community. Fortunately, our product, our medium is inherently feedback based. We have only to listen because the community is CONSTANTLY telling us what they like and don’t like.

In the case of Sermo’s future with pharmaceutical companies, something very unexpected happened. Several months ago we started getting more and more feedback from our community that the pharmaceutical industry “needs a seat at the table”. In other words, our physicians started saying that if Sermo is a voice for physicians, parties that can act on that voice need to be somehow be engaged. Pharmaceutical companies are critical stake holders in the healthcare industry, playing such a critical role in developing the treatments that empower physicians to treat patients.

Meanwhile, the Sermo community was very clearly and very vividly surfacing some very contentious issues around their perception of current industry practices. This made it obvious to Sermo that if we were ever to consider engaging with industry we would need to find an approach that is a significant departure from the current norm. Right around this time, Sermo started getting approached by many industry leaders who were asking how they could re-create the relationship that they have with physicians.

These two trends, a desire from physicians to work with industry, and industry’s desire to change their ways, created an interesting opportunity. For several months now Sermo has been working with members from both constituencies to find areas of common ground. The results have been absolutely fascinating and unexpected. We don’t have it figured out yet, but we seem to be closing in fast.

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