IRVINE, California–March 29, 2012–Ignite Health, an inVentiv Health company and leader in healthcare communications, today announced the launch of the next generation of its award-winning "Diabetes Nest" (http://diabetesnest.com), a Twitter-based platform utilizing the latest technology to curate, filter and present relevant, real-time conversations to the diabetes online community. Sponsored by Roche Diabetes Care, makers of ACCU-CHEK® products and services, the Diabetes Nest connects established voices in the diabetes online community with newcomers and aspiring thought leaders, and provides a platform for them to share their voices and be heard.
With support from community advocates including Diabetes Mine, Ninjabetic, and Scott's Diabetes, Diabetes Nest enables both experienced social media users and novices to get the most out of their social interactions online. The Twitter-based social network accomplishes this by aggregating Tweets from a curated list of diabetes experts, using an exclusive algorithm to sort and rank the Tweets, and creating an interface to engage users from any browser or mobile device.
"Few argue that social media has transformed how patients and their caregivers share healthcare information and find support," said Fabio Gratton, Chief Experience Officer at Ignite Health. "But the sheer volume of content can be overwhelming. So we asked ourselves how we could best help the diabetes community find and engage in the most timely, relevant and important conversations. The result is a simple, intuitive, compelling and ultimately self-sustaining diabetes social media community."
Gina Capone (@ginacaps), founder of TheDiabetesResource.com, DiabetesTalkfest.com and one of the Diabetes Nest's curators, said, "If you want to find out what people touched by diabetes are talking about, the best place to find it is at the Diabetes Nest. Thought leaders, parents, healthcare professionals all in one place communicating with each other—it really is a no brainer."
To further extend the reach of the Diabetes Nest, the Roche Diabetes team added a widget featuring content from the network to the company's acclaimed social media community page, ACCU-CHEK Diabetes Link. Rob Muller, Associate Marketing Manager for Roche Diabetes Care, said, "We are very proud to support such a great resource that can help people with diabetes stay up to date with their friends on Twitter, or even help them discover more of the diabetes online community there."
"This service is essentially built by the diabetes online community that already exists and thrives," said Jeremy Franz, Experience Architect at Ignite Health. "We simply developed a way of analyzing which people were most consistently recognized as authentic voices in the community with a filter, which pulls out their most relevant conversations. Wrapping that content into an interface that is more in line with how we naturally consume information—in a prioritized and contextual way, interspersed with comments—enables users to quickly tap into the pulse of their community."
He continued: "Since the sorting and ranking algorithm is based on both curator feedback and thought leader popularity among the diabetes community as a whole, new contributors added to the Diabetes Nest will see their content and conversations organically become a part of the larger diabetes conversation."
By using the very latest "Responsive Design" practices, Ignite Health ensured that the Diabetes Nest would be accessible from any computer, smartphone or tablet. On iPad and iPhone devices, users can select the option to bookmark the home screen in order to create a link for easy access, similar to a mobile app that can be downloaded from the app store. "Regardless of source or destination, the site allows engagement with the entire diabetes universe, and that's really important to us," Franz added.
In addition, updates on the top news and content featured on the Diabetes Nest are available through a weekly newsletter that delivers the top 10 curated Tweets of the week to community members.
"The diabetes community is using social media to help support its diabetes management plan, truly making the most of Twitter's 140 characters," said Kerri Sparling, a Diabetes Nest curator and the author of Six Until Me , one of the first and most widely read diabetes patient blogs. "The Diabetes Nest highlights many of the most influential voices and topics in the diabetes Twittersphere, helping to raise the collective voice of our community. The Diabetes Nest gives a cumulative snapshot into what real life with diabetes is really like."
About Ignite Health
Ignite Health ranks among the top 20 healthcare agencies and was a finalist in 2011 for Med Ad News' Agency of the Year. With offices in Irvine, Calif., and New York City, Ignite Health offers clients a broad range of fundamental best practices and digital excellence to create unstoppable momentum for brand success across the continuum of a brand's lifecycle. Ignite Health is an inVentiv Health company. For more information, visit http://www.ignitehealth.com.
About inVentiv Health
inVentiv Health, Inc. is a leading global provider of best-in-class clinical, commercial, and consulting services to companies seeking to accelerate performance. inVentiv's client roster includes more than 550 pharmaceutical, biotech, and life sciences companies. With 13,000 employees in 40 countries, inVentiv rapidly transforms promising ideas into commercial reality. inVentiv Health, Inc. is privately owned by inVentiv Group Holdings Inc., an organization sponsored by affiliates of Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P., Liberty Lane Partners, and members of the inVentiv management team. For more information, visit http://www.inventivhealth.com.
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Vince Parry
Ignite Health
646-437-4856