Recommendations For Wiki.eyeforpharma.com
The Eyeforpharma Wiki Review & Followup
This post is the followup to the review of the Eyeforpharma Wiki published on the AlignMap blog at Wiki.eyeforpharma.com: A New Source Of Patient Compliance Information. As I noted there, the quality of this nascent wiki is uneven but it is apparent that Wiki.eyeforpharma.com offers a significant opportunity to provide not only worthwhile information but a valuable perspective on patient compliance to clinicians, politicians and bureaucrats, and the lay community as well as those within the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, only a portion of that potential is now being realized. These recommendations are made in that context.
Caveats:
First, readers are well advised that, as the hoary joke has it, free advice is worth exactly what one pays for it. Further, these recommendations fall under the “If I Were King” rubric (i.e., they do not take into account obligations, budgets, plans, etc. to which the Eyeforpharma Wiki may be committed). Finally, readers should be aware that my interest in and thoughts about the Eyeforpharma Wiki are driven exclusively by my conviction that
The folks developing the Eyeforpharma Wiki may well have different goals or at least be less monomaniacal.
Suggestions For The Eyeforpharma Wiki
1. Define the Wiki’s theme
I have yet to grasp the focus of the Eyeforpharma Wiki. While this may be my failing, I did make an extensive but unrequited attempt to figure it out. Others may have the same problem.
In comparison, I am confident that I understand, for example, that the focus of the Wikipedia. Its Five Pillars describe a vigorously edited encyclopedia characterized by a neutral point of view and evidence-supported accuracy. Similarly, the WikiCPA declaration that it is “dedicated to all things CPA” and the MormonWiki’s objective, to be “the free encyclopedia about Mormons from the perspective of faithful members,” provide a context for reading or creating their content.
Without such an orientation, contributors are left to guess what material and styles fit. For example, my criticism the Patient Compliance entry promotes specific compliance programs by quoting the creators of those programs rather than citing research references would, I suspect, be congruent with the Wikipedia ideals. If, however, the Wiki were based on something akin to the MormonWiki’s “perspective of faithful members,” the testimonial approach could prove acceptable. The problem, of course, is that various contributors may have different notions of what is appropriate.
Consequently, a clear orientation/mission statement/theme is essential.
2. Change the Wiki’s designation to a neutral name
While Eyeforpharma has every right to append their name to any of their projects, I submit that ones motivation to contribute to this Wiki and the likelihood that one will view it as unbiased are attenuated by the use of the corporate name and logo in the Wiki’s title and by the Eyeforpharma.com URL.
3. Tighten the infrastructure
Stylistic guidelines, including consistent capitalization, punctuation, and parallel structure, should be established and enforced for easier reading and greater credibility. The Wiki’s organizational scheme should also be revised. If listings of individuals and companies, for example, are to be included in the Index along with entries dealing more general topics, such as Patient Compliance, E-tailing, and CNS Drugs, separate categories should be established to aid navigation.
Conclusion
Those who have previously visited this blog will not be surprised to learn that my original catalog of recommendations was far more extensive and detailed. I have come to realize, however, that inflicting my complete wish list on readers would be burdensome to them without a compensatory increase in impact on the Eyeforpharma Wiki.
In any case, I understood at the outset that, in general, unsolicited advice is rarely considered, let alone embraced, and that the chances of any changes being effected as a result of these ideas were small. Still, when any opportunity to push compliance enhancement arises, I find it hard to ignore. That the Eyeforpharma Wiki could be a forum with the potential for influencing the entire pharmaceutical industry’s perception of patient compliance proved irresistible.
So, I’ll return to the modest aspiration of minding my own blogging but will continue to watch the evolution of the Eyeforpharma Wiki in the hope that it proves a huge success.
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