Children's Hospital Boston Launches Online Physician Community on Within3 Platform
Boston–July 15, 2009 Children’s Hospital Boston, one of the leading pediatric hospitals in the country, announced today it has launched an online community enabling faculty, residents, fellows and alumni to collaborate and exchange information in a private, secure environment.
This new community, developed by Within3, which builds online communities for health professionals, allows for the sharing of real–time information on clinical interests, professional accomplishments, research initiatives, career changes and more.
Invitations to join the online community were sent to nearly 1,500 professionals at Children’s. Within 24 hours, hundreds of users had logged into the site and created interactive profiles with updated personal information. Each profile was designed to list past and current affiliations, areas of expertise, research involvement as well as published research or medical journal articles. The profiles combine to form a robust directory that enables users to find, connect and collaborate with each other online—even if they are no longer at Children’s.
“Immediate response to the launch of our community was excellent,” said Alison Dargie, Marketing Manager at Children’s. “Not only did members log on and start using the site immediately, we also reconnected with lost alumni at events around the country.”
The overall design of the online community was created to meet the specific needs of Children’s. Services include an online directory, current news and resources such as research awards, and a “live” calendar of events including CMEs, seminars and speaking engagements.
Advanced social networking features allow users to see how they know or are ‘connected’ to other members. For example, a fellow at Children’s may be looking for information regarding a specific area of pediatric research. By searching the directory, she can find other connections at Children’s she knows personally or through another colleague, who can immediately collaborate with her regarding the latest study results in that area.
This online community is just the beginning for Children’s. In the coming months, communities for specific departments, fellowship groups and other affiliates will be developed and launched. These additional communities will include online discussion boards enabling collective conversations about the latest medical news, research or even hospital events.
Trevor McGill, MD, President of Children’s Hospital Boston Alumni Association, noted: “We thought this would be a wonderful way for our alumni to reconnect with old friends and open doors for new collaborations. It will help strengthen the bond between our faculty and our residents and fellows before, during and after their training at Children’s.”
Added Dargie, “Our goal was to create a tool that would help our clinicians find each other, communicate and collaborate in a secure environment. We are pleased that we can offer this innovative platform to our faculty and alumni.”
About Children's Hospital Boston
Founded as a 20–bed hospital for children, Children’s Hospital Boston today is a 397–bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. Children’s also is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Children’s Boston is home to the world’s largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 500 scientists, including eight members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of Medicine and 12 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, comprise Children’s research community. For more information about the hospital visit: www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.
About Within3
Within3 is the leader in building online communities that enable healthcare professionals to efficiently connect, collaborate, and share information on a 24/7 basis. Highly branded and customized, Within3 communities energize members by providing an array of interactive capabilities. Working with health systems, medical schools, professional associations, research groups and industry, Within3’s goal is to ensure that each community adds value to both organizational clients and to individual members.
To learn more about Within3, call 216-391-4701 or visit www.within3.com.
