Mobile usage in clinical trials makes for an unlikely case study. However, it is indicative of where mobile is heading. Two years ago I wouldn't even have considered mobile as a viable tool. Today, there are very few instances when I would recommend not including one.

Fortunately, thanks to a little something called "fair balance," you won't see Hugh Laurie proudly brandishing his painkiller label on "House" anytime soon -- though there were plenty of prescription drug names dropping on TV just a few years ago.

Establishing compliance is about more than one-time medical reimbursement; it's about developing life-long customers.

People travel to exotic locations for all sorts of reasons -- business, studies, or to experience a different culture. But such places can also offer exotic health risks, which vary greatly by season, location, contact with local populations, and other factors.

I admit it; I'm late to the Lady Gaga phenomenon. But I have the energy and interest of a recent convert: she fascinates me. Like many of us who are past the Millennial bracket, I am more struck by Gaga's persona than her music, but for us marketers, the persona may be the more carefully cultivated art form.

The new dynamics in the health care space are forcing us to de-commoditize media and are using it to create value. Not just for clients, but for everyone. It may get a little messy as these new ways of working blur the lines. But it's in that blur that you find real innovation.

One of the challenges for any healthcare marketer, be it a hospital, a pharma company or a non-profit organization, is that much of its best expertise has a relatively targeted audience. Fortunately, with the emergence of more and more tools that focus on connection and curation as much as content creation, the prognosis for leveraging these audiences to reach a wider audience is looking better every day.

Facebook advertising campaigns requires a lot of time, oversight, analysis and attention to detail. But if executed properly it's a strategy that pharma will learn to "Like" for a long time to come.

Social media has been a challenge for pharma companies and health marketers, and I'm sure gaming will represent a whole new kind of med-legal review. However, simply understanding what makes an experience engaging -- simplicity, reward -- can change how you think about all campaigns, not just those that involve a game.

EMarketer predicts that by 2012, 60% of the U.S. Internet population will check Facebook at least once a month. If your healthcare brand is absent from the pages of Facebook, then now is the time to change that.