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 ...
Posts tagged Twitter
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 ...
Show doctors the value when it comes to social media and EMRs
The common perception is that older doctors are more adverse to technology, especially when it comes to electronic medical records.Recent data, however, says that isn't true.According to a study cited in American Medical News, "physicians more than 10 years out of medical school and those with higher patient volumes were more likely than younger and less busy ...
Bury bad doctor reviews with a strong physician social media presence
When I talk about online presence to physicians, the first question I'm often asked is, "How do I remove a negative physician rating?"The short answer is, you can't.American Medical News came out with an article outlining the various legal options physicians have whenever a patient rates them poorly on the web.Many of those options, including suing the ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
How Jenny McCarthy became a medical thought leader
The mere mention of Jenny McCarthy gets an immediate eye roll from many physicians. The closer their practice is to autism or immunology, the more likely the eye roll turns into a lecture on why Ms. Playboy should focus on what she knows.The problem is that "Ms. Playboy" is kicking the medical profession’s behind on thought leadership. Jenny McCarthy has become a – if not the – leading voice regarding ...
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 ...
How social media impacted a medical student’s career
Back in 2004, after I was accepted into Stanford University, a friend of mine at the university took me around on a campus tour. He showed me the building he lived in (Donner), his cafeteria (Stern), Hoover Tower, and all the usual sights. When it came time for him to tell me more about his classmates and dorm buddies, he promptly pulled up a webpage on his computer. "You have ...
A medical student talks about social media in health care
In the course of doing research on the future of social media in health care, and hearing from a group of doctors who believe there isn’t one in their practice, I also talked to a few future physicians. Three to be exact, from different parts of the United States, a third year student, a student on the verge of enrolling in a US medical school, and the one ...
Social media tips for students applying to medical school
I started my first blog, Chick Lit MD, in December of 2009. By the time I began filling out my medical school applications I had been actively blogging for approximately 7 months. As someone interested in the intersection between medicine and media, the use of social media was integral to my exploration of both fields. As such, I included my adventures in social media in my application ...
