Telemedicine will no doubt increase patient engagement, because patients who receive care when and where they want are more motivated to participate in self-care. And on the provider side, being able to identify what is important to the patient and providing those services will go a long way to establishing a partnership outside of the office visit. From reviewing medical records to charting treatment plans, from reading x-rays to home healthcare, telemedicine is making healthcare more available to everyone.

When it comes to the pharmaceutical industry's digital ambitions, it's becoming less and less about producing stand-alone apps and more about developing digital tools that have therapeutic potential. This was the message Dr. Joseph Kvedar had for those attending the recently concluded 2015 HIMSS Connected Health Conference.

How effective is a car that has two wheels in drive and two wheels in reverse? Well, maybe you'll go a bit sideways and get somewhere, but it's not really moving you to where you need to go, right? I think we can all agree that cars, much like marketing plans, are most effective when all the wheels are turning in a coordinated direction.

Shareable content is a powerful activator and amplifier of your brand engagement. A thoughtful approach to utilizing content, not just driving reach and frequency of messages, drives brand engagement in a way that direct selling simply cannot.

We've all been there. With unexpected free time, you watch a daytime TV show that you hadn't watched since you were home sick in grade school. You fidget in the chair, and check your emails. It's been 15 minutes since you arrived and you're still in the waiting room. As a matter of fact, the average wait in doctors' offices including the waiting room and exam room is climbing upwards of 45 minutes.