#ScopeScope Periscope Colonoscopy Recap

Tuesday’s #ScopeScope was a first for Mayo Clinic, and maybe also for Periscope.

  • We know it’s the first time Mayo has broadcast live video of a procedure to a general audience. We’ve taken satellite feeds to medical conferences, but never to the world.
  • We suspect (we can’t know for certain since Periscope only archives broadcasts for 24 hours) that it also was the first broadcast of a colonoscopy on Periscope.

Here are some of the initial results:

  • Through two broadcast ‘scopes (we cut the first after a few minutes because of audio problems) we had more than 3,000 viewers for some or all of the live event.
  • In the 24 hours after the broadcast, almost 1,800 more people watched the archived version.
  • Our posts on the Mayo Clinic Facebook page reached more than 380,000 users and generated over 4,000 reactions, comments and shares, along with more than 8,000 link clicks.
  • According to Symplur, the #ScopeScope hashtag has been used nearly 1,200 times by more than 600 users.

There was a significant media relations element to the campaign too, as Mayo distributed a news release and produced a post-scope video package, which is embedded at the bottom of this post.

Here are links to some of the other news hits:

The #ScopeScope was part of Mayo Clinic’s support for Fight Colorectal Cancer’s #OMSCollection. Fight Colorectal Cancer rang the closing bell at NASDAQ yesterday, and various contributions to the #OMSCollection were highlighted on the six-story Jumbotron on the side of the NASDAQ building in Times Square. Here, from the Mayo Clinic Instagram account, is a sampler of #ScopeScope being featured:

Previewing the Mayo Clinic #ScopeScope

I’m getting a colonoscopy next Tuesday morning, and I hope it will encourage many others to get screened for colorectal cancer too.

Mayo Clinic will be broadcasting the procedure live on Periscope in an interactive event we’re calling the #ScopeScope.

I hope you’ll participate (the links at the bottom of this post give more info and three concrete ways you can help spread the word), but first some background:

  • Colorectal cancer is one of the leading cancer killers, claiming about 50,000 lives per year in the U.S. alone.
  • It’s also among the most preventable or curable cancers with appropriate screening. Finding and removing precancerous polyps keeps them from turning into cancer, and catching cancers earlier improves survival.
  • Colonoscopy is one of several good screening options.
  • Everyone over age 50 should be screened, and if you have a family history or other risk factors it should start earlier. Discuss timing with your doctor.

Why Periscope?

Periscope is a live video streaming mobile application owned by Twitter, and we’ve had a Mayo Clinic channel since June. If you’re not familiar with Periscope, here’s video from a broadcast I did yesterday, describing what we’re doing in the #ScopeScope:

With the Periscope mobile app (available for iOS or Android), you can comment and ask questions, provide feedback and share on other social networks.

You can still watch a Periscope broadcast without the app, but you can’t interact. So you’ll get the best experience if you install it.

Here are a few background links:

Three Concrete Ways You Can Help

  1. Go to the event page we’ve created on Facebook, indicate your attendance, and invite your friends. Especially those you know or suspect are 50 or older.
  2. Share this post on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn now, and
  3. Watch for the Tuesday morning announcements on Twitter and Facebook that the #ScopeScope is starting, and share those with your networks, too.

I welcome your ideas for how we can have the most impact through this project. Please leave your comments below, or share them by email through my contact form.

 

 

 

Colon Cancer Alliance Presentation

I’m in Miami this morning for the Colon Cancer Alliance National Conference. Below are the slides I will be presenting.

One of the things I’m excited to share with this group is the Patient Advocate Associate memberships as well as the free guest accounts we now have available in the Social Media Health Network.

I look forward to the discussion!

 

First Event in Second Life

As Mayo Clinic (specifically our Center for Innovation) hosted its first event today in Second Life, it also was the first time I have attended a Second Life event. You can read about the event here on our Mayo Clinic News Blog, and I also have uploaded some screen shots to our Mayo Clinic Facebook Page.

If you haven’t experienced Second Life, here’s a brief video snippet from today’s presentation to give you a feel:

Second Life has a different value proposition as compared to the social media tools I have more strongly advocated. For instance, for an educational event like today’s lecture, it provides a neat way for people from all over the world to be virtually in the same room. I thought it was neat that we had room monitors available to help newbies like me figure out the controls.

Second Life is not a way to reach a large audience. There were several dozen people (or their avatars) in this event today, which I think made it quite successful. But it does seem like a good way to have more in-depth interactions than may be possible through Twitter chats, for instance. And for discussions of sensitive subjects and medical conditions, the anonymity of an avatar offers some value.

Back in 2007 there was a lot of hype about Second Life, and many organizations rushed in to have a presence there. I’m glad Mayo Clinic is exploring this through our Center for Innovation, and seeing what uses make sense for us.

I wrote a post about Second Life back in 2007 that was misunderstood as trashing Second Life, when that wasn’t my intent at all. My point was that organizations that had been considering spending on Second Life should think Facebook first. I think that’s proven to be wise advice: at the time Facebook had 40 million monthly active users, and since then has grown to 400 million.

But I still think Second Life is worth exploring, and as I said, I’m glad we have some people at Mayo Clinic who are seriously experimenting with it. I personally will probably not be a super frequent visitor because I have a lot of other things going on, but I’m keeping an open mind.

How about you? Have you visited Second Life? What do you think of it? How do you see it being applied?

Where have all the polyps gone?

When I heard that Peter Yarrow of the ’60s trio (with Paul and Mary) had recorded The Colonoscopy Song to increase awareness of the need for colon cancer screening among those of his vintage, all sorts of lyrical possibilities ran through my mind…

Where have all the polyps gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the polyps gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the polyps gone?

Gone to lesions everyone!

When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?

I naturally saw the progression moving from polyps to lesions to metastases (although that had too many syllables for the song’s meter) to graveyards. But instead of just recycling one of his oldies, Peter came up with a whole new song, which he performed on the CBS Early Show this week (and also posted to YouTube):

To support this screening awareness initiative, we interviewed a Mayo Clinic physician about for more background on colon cancer and colonoscopy.

I had my first colonoscopy about a year ago, a few years ahead of the time when I would otherwise qualify for a screening colonoscopy, as part of the journey that led to my diagnosis of celiac disease. The prep wasn’t the most fun, but I actually have no memory of the colonoscopy itself.

I don’t know whether my colon, like Peter’s, is “really cool.” But I’m glad to know it doesn’t have precancerous polyps. If you’re over 50 and haven’t had a colonoscopy, make an appointment this week to find out about the coolness of your colon.