Epocrates made an interesting move over the summer, naming Facebook's mobile chief, Erick Tseng, to its board of directors. Tseng is a hot commodity in IT, having jumped to Facebook last year from Google, where he served as senior product manager for the booming Android smartphone operating system.
Tseng has worked for plenty of heavy hitters in the high-tech industry, including Microsoft, Yahoo and the MIT Media Lab. He also did a stint as a consultant for McKinsey & Co.
On the side, Tseng serves an advisor—and is an investor in—HealthTap, a recently launched, interactive site and platform that crowdsources health information from a network of 5,000 physicians.
Facebook's mobile strategy has been a bit of an enigma, though this week brought some clarity, with the release of a long-awaited, native Facebook app for the iPad.
When San Mateo, Calif.-based Epocrates announced the board appointment, Tseng said in a press release that mobile and health were "two of my personal passions." But he didn't say why.
Obviously, someone as busy as Tseng is hard to pin down for an interview; we missed him while in San Francisco a couple weeks ago for the Health 2.0 Conference. But he answered some questions via e-mail, including that one.
Tseng: "Health is something that affects us all. I'm interested in how patients can become more empowered in their health and the ways technology can enable that. This led to my first real foray into health technology while at the MIT Media Lab. I built a wireless health monitoring service that used biofeedback and social dynamics (imagine Nike+ merged with a personal health record system) as part of my master's thesis in computer science and electrical engineering. I also incorporated healthcare policy into my studies at Stanford Business School, as part of their public management program."
MobiHealthNews: Does your presence indicate that Epocrates will look to engage more people via social media?
Tseng: "My contributions to the Epocrates board will be to share my expertise in mobile development and connectivity. For example, the company is currently working on a new user experience for its iOS drug reference app that will help physicians gain even faster access to the information and tools needed at the point of care, and surface new apps relevant to their practice.
"I can’t think of another company that has the size and loyalty of a clinician network that Epocrates does; and upon this vast network of healthcare professionals, the company can build a broad range of innovative services and experiences. [Epocrates claims a user base of 1.3 million healthcare professionals.] Historically, Epocrates focused on pushing out content. Now with its new EHR software, there is more of a two-way exchange of information. And in the future, who knows? It seems like every industry is incorporating a social component these days, from job searching to gaming. Why not healthcare?"
MobiHealthNews: Will Epocrates look beyond its traditional constituency of healthcare professionals to try to reach the general public?
Tseng: "As a criterion for meaningful use, Epocrates EHR will include a patient portal. Now how the company facilitates the patient/physician engagement will be worth watching."
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