#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:

It’s Time for #ScopeScope!

IMG_9793It’s 4:30 a.m. CST on March 1, and as I sit down to enjoy my reward for drinking the last of my eight glasses of MoviPrep® (and as I get ready to sit somewhere else in a few minutes!), I’m looking ahead to the #ScopeScope.

Starting in a little over three hours, Mayo Clinic will be broadcasting my colonoscopy on Periscope. We think it’s the first #ScopeScope, but we’re sure it’s the first time Mayo has done a live procedure broadcast to a general audience.

Please help us make that audience as large as possible, because our message is important:

  • Colorectal cancer is among the most preventable cancers with appropriate screening
  • Colonoscopy is not as unpleasant as you may have heard, and
  • Colonoscopy isn’t the only screening method, and the best screening test is the one that gets done.

Here are three ways you can help:

  1. On Facebook, go to the Mayo Clinic event we’ve created, indicate your attendance, and invite your friends. We will post the link to the live broadcast link when the #ScopeScope starts, which will be sometime between 8:45 and 9 a.m. EST (7:45-8 CST).
  2. On Twitter, follow the #ScopeScope hashtag. When you see the tweet announcing that we’re LIVE on Persicope, retweet it to your followers (and then be sure to join us for the broadcast!
  3. After the live broadcast, the archive will be available for 24 hours, so share the link on all of your social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) right away.

Gotta go…

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.