Persuading doctors to quickly adopt new treatments

Doctors are more likely to try a new therapy when they are persuaded to do so by an influential colleague, reports a new study whose findings on adopting innovations have relevance for business and education. The authors used the finding to simulate a technology intervention that acts like an influential colleague -- opinionated but not bossy -- that they will design for the real world. The goal is to speed physicians' adoption of new treatments, which can take up to 17 years.