In today's fast-shifting patient-centric world, do we know what patients with serious diseases really want when it comes to information about their health? And are pharmaceutical companies listening?

"Grass roots" and "going global"-two terms that not so long ago were seemingly in separate camps. In people's minds, grass roots movements happened at a local level and were often thought of as occurring naturally, even spontaneously. Mention going global, and people most likely thought in terms of international trade and finance, international integration-processes that happened over time.

This past March at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, one of the world's renowned futurists, Ray Kurzweil, declared "health" an information technology. The genome is complete, and the era of personalized medicine has begun. Biology will begin to adhere to his famous "Law of Accelerating Returns."

The effect social media has had on society and world culture is undeniable. We have witnessed social networks help lead to the downfall of dictatorial regimes in the Middle East. They have been facilitating like-minded audiences across the world to collaborate for good. And, of course, it has dramatically changed how we communicate with our friends and family, as well as businesses and organizations. The healthcare industry is no stranger to social as many organizations have already leveraged it in many successful ways. See below five examples of how social is helping the healthcare industry.

Take a shot at an inside-outside approach to thought leadership.