I have decided to spam for public health.Phone calls, text messaging, and even apps have been shown to help improve health and sustain behavior change, even in people suffering from profound mental illness. But when it comes to using these tools for public health, there are two problems. The first is that each message (whether via phone call or text) costs money. The second is that it’s quite hard ...
Social media
Addressing comments on your medical practice’s Facebook page
Does your medical practice allow anybody to post links and comments on your Facebook page?The short answer is yes. We do. Why? Because we think allowing patient to post links and commenting on our practice’s Facebook page helps us achieve these four things:1. It encourages communication. 2. It allows us to address issues that we would otherwise have a hard time addressing. 3. Other patients will benefit by reading the discussions. 4. We ...
The Internet is where patients go for pre-visit consultations
As a physician, technology cannot replace you, but it can make you more efficient and effective.This was the message from Richard Satava, MD, who spoke on the future of surgical technology at the recent Seattle Surgical Society Annual Meeting. Dr. Satava's speech was fascinating as he laid out the future for robotics, remote surgery, internal locomotion actuators, molecular imaging biosurgery, etc. I looked over my shoulder a couple of times ...
5 ways doctors can benefit from professional connections
Looking ahead to the next several months, I’ve found myself frequently wondering how many physicians will make this their year to take the plunge and join an online social network. There are significant advantages that can be gained for doctors who embrace social media. Here are five ways you and your practice can benefit from such professional connections.1. Finding a better job. The business of the health care economy continues to ...
Twitter Is my third office location
The physician’s decision to first dive into social media can be stress-inducing. Issues of time management, maintaining professionalism, and determining a return on the personal investment can limit our use of the various platforms.Twitter offers me a unique platform that I may use to connect with patients. I use it as a virtual office location. While making personal connections with potential patients sounds daunting, it is actually a very natural ...
The impact of social media on a physician assistant
The impact of social media on medicine could arguably be compared to the impact of the industrial revolution on the human condition. Access to newer means of technology at the turn of the century changed most of society from primarily agricultural, to flourishing manufacturing centres. At the end of the 20th century, with relocation of manufacturing centres and the birth of the digital age, the concept of the American dream ...
Physician online professionalism in social media
Dr. Bryan Vartabedian (on Twitter as @Doctor_V) posted to his blog the narrative of a Grand Rounds presentation he gave in which he focused on the risks and benefits of physicians’ use of social media.The post is long, but provides an overview of Dr. V’s approach to social media. If you review his blog, you will see that this post (and the related presentation) neatly ...
Doctor, Google thyself
Have you ever Googled yourself or your practice? Did you know that you have an ever growing online reputation? Whether you know it or not, doctors have an online presence. When you type your name in a search engine you may be surprised by what you find. Everything you do professionally creates a digital footprint. If you are involved in social media then you are contributing to your online reputation. ...
A complete guide to planning a social media presence for healthcare
The world of healthcare is inherently siloed, tethered, fragmented and prone to poor communication and collaboration. Today, healthcare workers solve their problems via traditional methods that are often costly, inefficient, nor timely. Increasingly, more savvy healthcare workers are looking outside the system to digital media and communities for answers, but are challenged with uncertainty over concepts of usefulness, practicality, bandwidth issues, "ROI" and privacy concerns.Establishing a digital presence is rapidly ...
Why doctors should be careful on Twitter
Doctor, do you Tweet?No, not really. I registered on Twitter some years ago and began but did not keep it up, although I do have a number of Twitter followers. When I first checked Twitter out, the dominant drivel of narcissists pretty much turned me off.Were you also slow to start using the Internet?No, I quickly recognized a huge upside to a well-utilized Internet, so we were very early ...
Use social media to spread the family medicine revolution
It’s not easy trying to describe the importance of family medicine in 140 characters. Just a few months after I logged on to Twitter for the first time, I joined the "family medicine revolution," known as #FMrevolution on the social networking site. My friends immediately noticed a marked change in my tweets. "FM revolution?" they’d say. "Is pop radio making a comeback?" If you’ve turned on a stereo lately, you ...
The limitation of blogging about patients
Running a medical blog has become much more challenging over the years. It has always been understood by medical and health care bloggers that you should never post information that violates a patient’s privacy. In other words, do not post patient’s names, photographs of patients, or any other information that can specifically be used to identify them.However, changing patient demographics and limiting the information discussed such that the patient ...
A social media background is an asset in medicine
I have a confession to make. Lately I've been doing some soul-searching regarding the future of my social media presence. It started at a lecture I attended a few weeks ago, where students and residents were cautioned to avoid public social media profiles and blogging. It came up again one morning while I was discussing some current events with other students, and was mentioned most recently at a professionalism ...
How social media helped this medical student
In the course of our work as doctors we will undoubtedly witness events that change lives, but coming into medical school I never realized how directly some of these events would change my life.Often in medicine we see people at the worst possible time. Patients are sick or grieving and rarely happy to be in our presence, no matter how great we might think we are. Usually, they are experiencing ...
Social networking has changed the landscape in health care
In a recent Harvard Business Review Blog, David Armano writes about the six pillars of influence that leads to measurably favorable outcomes.To achieve measurably better health, the pillars Armano explains can certainly be adopted.He notes how the "social web can amplify signals, influence behavior and lead to action."Social networking has changed the landscape in health care. Technology has paved the way for instant communication and feedback.While some ...
Social media and the modern day House of God
In 1978, as I neared the end of high school and readied myself for medical training, a book called House of God was published by a doctor under the pseudonym Samuel Shem. By the time I read it as an intern eight years later it had become a cult classic among doctors. Everyone I knew in my hospital read it, passing around the single copy we had, writing our names in ...
The pivotal role of social media in patient support
I would have told you, on our first visit, that I don't do well with soft science. But you appeared rushed, with an office full of patients, and I did not feel that I needed to explain my personality. You see, I am a logical and rational thinker, and my primary goal in life is to understand the world around me. I need proof. And then I probably need even ...
How to use Twitter at your next medical conference
I thought I would give a quick overview of good ways for you to make use of Twitter at a medical conference. The growing field of palliative medicine has had a strong social media presence and the addition of more people into our online network helps get important information to people far beyond the patients and families we see each day in our work.Twitter can be a great way to capture the small ...
Why this medical student doesn’t blog anonymously
I started writing a blog when I began medical school, knowing that even though I was close to home I might not have as much time for keeping in touch with family and friends as I was used to. Writing it anonymously, or under a pseudonym, was a possibility that never even crossed my mind – it seemed it would defeat the purpose of being able to share my ...
5 signs for health care social media success
I sense a movement in health care circles from, "no way we’re doing that social media," to "ok, we get it social media is important, now what?"This is good to see. But like all things new, we’re experiencing some growing pains. Some health care providers take to social media easily and find ways to leverage it to educate, inform and grow practices, while others make efforts but can’t seem ...
