Social Network for plastic surgeons to talk... plastic surgery

Dr. Robert D. Rehnke believes plastic surgery and medical devices to support new procedures will grow exponentially in the next four to five years. How can plastic surgeons manage rapid change, collaborate and share insights, and help device manufacturers bring revolutionary new products to market faster?

A new sharing application called iClinicalStudy.com is in final phases of development. Backed by a non-profit organization called iClinicalStudy.org, the platform will offer studies for review and open comments or real-time development of new procedures. One of the first studies online will be on “Internal Mastopexy” and fat-grafting procedure. Rehnke recently presented his data and techniques at the ASAPS conference in Montreal.

Rehnke is not alone. There are a confluence of factors driving innovation including the U.S government. The new 21st Century Cures legislation now in mark-up by a health subcommittee of the Congress calls for breakthroughs to be fast-tracked through FDA and research pathways to be funded by the National Institutes of Health. In fact, NIH will soon have an “Innovations Fund” to support medical discovery.

Can surgeons collaborate in real-time? How can open source and mobile applications (Apps) support rapid change?

“There is clearly a groundswell toward information sharing and that must include our practices, our techniques, and how doctors communicate,” said Rehnke. Traditionally, doctors have not used social networks to share information but Rehnke believes there is “culture change and the timing is right” for more transparency.

“The medical community needs to be able to collaborate and share procedures in real time,” said Rehnke. “Sure, peer reviewed journals will still be there for clinical research. We cannot have a stranglehold on innovation and how we leverage technology” from entrenched interests.

Dr. Rehnke and others who are leading the Clinical Quality Improvement movement such as Dr. Bruce Ramshaw of Surgical Momentum in Daytona, Fla., associated with Halifax Medical Center and Dr. James Chao at Oasis and in association with the University of California, San Diego, support mobile platforms for shared information.

Rehnke says several studies from these noted surgeons are in development and will be up on iClinicalStudy.com later this summer. Watch for more news and updates on this promising new platform and free application.