You can use the online calendar to post your organization's events.  We will even allow the posting of events which compete with NetSuds and MedSuds events.  The calendars are free to use for both tracking events and for posting your own events.

Non-Minnesota companies conducting events in Minnesota will not be allowed to post events for free, even if they are teaming up with a Minnesota company.  Non-Minnesota companies or organizations should contact matt@netsuds.com to discuss the fees associated with posting such events. 

4.2  Administration

You will notice that one of the main categories on the web forums is the Administration forum.  This is one of the few forums for which you will not be able to "post".  The categories included here are "Information" and "Events".  The Information section pertains to policies which govern the web forums.  The Events section pertains strictly to events which are conducted by NetSuds and MedSuds.  These also include the Minnesota Venture Capital Conference and the Minnesota M&A Conference.  The "calendar" section is covered elsewhere and includes events other than those hosted by NetSuds or MedSuds.

6.0   MedSuds CEO Roundtable - www.medsuds.com/ceo/

MedSuds is opening up another group of CEO Roundtables in December 2004.  If you are a hightech or medtech CEO and want to join us, (the first session is free), contact matt@medsuds.com.  A synopsis of the CEO Roundtable can be found at www.medsuds.com/ceo/  It is repeated here as well.

MedSuds CEO Roundtable

Membership  Only CEOs of tech and medtech companies are allowed to join the MedSuds CEO Roundtable.  If you are a VP, CxO or President, you are not welcome unless you also hold the CEO title.  If you are interested in becoming a member, contact matt@medsuds.com.  Membership is not automatic.  There must be an available spot open in the roundtable.  You must have employees.  Your company must be incorporated.  Your company must be a tech (communications, IT, software, Internet) or medtech (medtech, biotech, life sciences) company.  You must pay a yearly fee of $1200 in advance.  You may not send substitutes to the Roundtable. 

Roles  Unlike the days of knights, kings and Camelot, there is no king of the MedSuds CEO Roundtable; only a facilitator; Matt Noah, CEO of NetSuds.com, Inc.  Knights are replaced by CEOs and the table won't be quite round.

Schedule  The Roundtable will meet at least 10 times per calendar year.  We meet the last Tuesday of every month.  Each meeting lasts between 2 hours starting at 7 am.  A facility convenient to the majority of Roundtable members is used.  A continental breakfast is served.

7.0   MedSuds Executive Search - www.medsuds.com/search/

See the following URL for more information on our executive search service - www.medicalsuds.com/search/.  

8.0   ThreeWire 

Attracting and Engaging Patients and Providing Targeted, Medical Industry Agency Services

by MedSudser Janet Rebman Lillevold, jm.rebman@worldnet.att.net, 952-249-8254

With a spectrum of services from patient recruitment to creative advertising agency services, ThreeWire, Inc. offers services to startup, midsize, and fortune 500 companies in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries, locally and nationally. 

Founded in 1999 to address the need for finding, engaging, and connecting patients to qualified physicians for targeted products, ThreeWire has evolved over the past two years by adding a full-service advertising and marketing communications agency, and a patient recruitment and retention service for clinical trials.  If you need to find a patient for your trial and/or approved product, ThreeWire has a full suite of product offerings.

Dash-Two Advertising, the most recent addition to the ThreeWire suite of services, is an independent, full-service advertising agency that delivers:  research, planning, and strategy; creative communications; and production services.  Examples of services include:  logo and corporate material, brand development, advertisements, sales collateral, direct mail campaigns, public relations, Web sites, and trade show materials.  And why is Dash-Two competitive?  According to Mark Summers, founder and President of ThreeWire, “Dash-Two has extensive expertise in the medical and biotechnology industries; the agency is streamlined and agile; and the agency isn’t burdened with high overhead.  For clients, this translates into a thorough and timely approach to projects, appropriate (lower) costs, and a quick turnaround.  When you work with an agency that has strong medical channel expertise (over 21 years), you don’t need to spend the time to bring the agency up to speed on your industry.”

Leslie Erickson, Director of Dash-Two describes the agency succinctly as “advertising that works. As the only advertising agency in the Twin Cities whose sole focus is in the medical device and pharmaceutical space, we understand our clients’ environment and know how to work with them to create and implement effective campaigns.”  Current and recent Dash-Two clients include Chronimed Inc., Kyphon Inc., ACIST® Medical Systems Inc., and SafetyCall International™, and the list of clients is growing rapidly.

FAST – find, assess, schedule, and track.  These are all components of SlipStream Recruiting and Retention™, a proprietary, patent-pending technology and service platform for clinical trials.  You need patients?  ThreeWire finds the patients, assesses the patients according to your criteria (protocol inclusion/exclusion criteria), schedules the patients with clinical research sites; and tracks the patients through the treatment continuum.  According to Kim Cotten, Director of Business Development/Account Supervision, “ThreeWire delivers and retains patients more effectively by employing a nurse-staffed Patient Interaction Center™; developing innovations in screening, engaging, and managing patients; and providing effective, timely reporting.  As a result of our reporting systems, we can provide recommendations such as advertising or outreach efforts to clients faster.  And with our my-patient.com portal, we can provide 24/7 patient, site, or sponsor interaction.”   

What about the foundation of the company – SlipStream Marketing™?  With the explosion in research by patients who want to take a more active role in healthcare decisions, direct to consumer marketing is more critical than ever.  Whether it’s the patient, the patient’s spouse or family member, or a concerned friend or caregiver, more individuals than ever are scanning the Web for information and alternatives, and bringing this information into discussions with their physicians.  According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 81% of Internet users expect to find reliable information on health and medical conditions online. The growth in Internet research across all age groups means a burgeoning pool of potential consumers for the medical industries.  

Using a marketing variation of FAST, ThreeWire targets patient segments and attracts traffic to customized Web sites where individuals can review information and treatment options regarding the disease state, contact a nurse to obtain additional information, and schedule an appointment with a participating clinician in the patient’s geographic area.  The nurses in ThreeWire’s Patient Interaction Center qualify patients against relevant criteria, schedule the patient appointments, and manage the patient/physician interaction (from reminder calls to rescheduling appointments to outcome results).  Critical performance and marketing data is collected and quantified, providing clients with a detailed, analytical assessment of program ROI.  Data includes:  number of Web site visitors, callers, appointments, appointment outcomes and procedures performed, patient demographics, time intervals between appointments and procedures, types and quantities of procedures, and other targeted criteria. 

According to Susanne Spencer, Director of SlipStream Marketing, ThreeWire’s proprietary marketing process brings value to the medical device manufacturers’ relationship with their physicians by providing pre-qualified and educated patients to the physician.  It is a very powerful way of marketing directly to a highly targeted segment of the consumer population with measurable results, information that you do not get from most direct to consumer marketing programs. “ 

Summers acknowledges that as with many startups, the past four years have been challenging, but exciting,  and he feels that the demand for ThreeWire’s services is on the verge of exploding.  “Direct-to-patient marketing is growing exponentially.  We expect that growth to continue and for ThreeWire to be leading the way.”    

For additional information on ThreeWire and their suite of services, visit www.threewire.com or contact:

­       Dash-Two Advertising, Leslie Erickson, 952-852-5577, lerickson@threewire.com

­       Slip Stream Marketing, Susanne Spencer, 952-852-5572, sspencer@threewire.com

­       Patient Recruitment, Kim Cotten, 952-852-5569, kcotten@threewire.com

­       Mark Summers at 952-852-5556, msummers@threewire.com  

9.0  Guest Writers for This Report

The MedSuds Monthly Report welcomes guest writers! If you have a passion for a topic, and you can write, send an email to janet@medsuds.com or matt@medsuds.com. You can even send copies of your work. It needs to be on med-tech, biotech or life sciences topics and can include entrepreneur/investor activities. Good information from our service providers and vendors is also welcome so long as it is not a "commercial" for any one company or individual. 

We will consider any qualified columnists and guest writers.

If you are aware of others who would like to receive the MedSuds Report, ask them to visit http://www.netsuds.net/mail.htm to subscribe or unsubscribe.

Please send your comments and feedback regarding this issue of the MedSuds Report to matt@medsuds.com. 

Matt Noah

980 Lake Susan Hills Drive
Chanhassen, MN  55317

ofc:  612.605.5252
fax:  612.677.3934

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