Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

How social media will merge with electronic medical records

Josh Herigon, MPH
Social media
June 17, 2011
335 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

Bryan Vartabedian, MD blogs at 33 Charts about the convergence of medicine and social media.  A post last year gives a vision of how current social media concepts will merge with existing electronic medical record (EMR) technologies to produce a fully integrated communications system for health professionals.

The picture Dr. Vartabedian paints is a dream for those of us who extensively use technology in other parts of our lives (which I think would include nearly all current medical students).  Social media technologies such as Facebook and Twitter have fundamentally changed the way the world communicates.  Texting and email have also altered our communication habits.  These technologies have brought added speed and functionality to many types of communication.

Yet, the medical world is still stuck using 1980s communication technologies.  Many clinicians still rely on pagers and telephones as their primary means of communicating with care teams.  Email systems within medical centers are secure and often used extensively, but violate HIPAA regulations if communicating with another health care professional outside the medical center.  Many offices (probably the majority of private practices) still fax progress notes.

Although I dream of the day when we have a system like Dr. Vartabedian’s vision, I am not very optimistic such a system will come to fruition anytime soon.  The biggest barrier is the general fragmentation of our health care system.  Academic medical centers, hospitals, private practices, and ancillary facilities (imaging and laboratory centers) exist in silos.  No form of integrated communication currently occurs between these pieces of the health care system.  More importantly, each of these players is adopting their own EMR systems, few of which are interoperable.

I have tempered my expectations of what future systems will look like.  Integration of audio clips into the EMR or speech recognition software to automatically include communication seems like a stretch for now.  Also, automatic linking to relevant medical literature based on entering a diagnosis into the EMR would be fantastic but not practical at this point (put something like “ulcerative colitis” into PubMed or Google Scholar or even UpToDate and see all the irrelevant crap you come up with).  I would be satisfied with truly interconnected EMR systems (i.e.–I can pull up any patient’s chart from any hospital or clinic and see their entire recorded medical history), the elimination of pagers and subsequent replacement with secure smartphone communication systems, widespread use of tablets at the bedside that update the record in real-time so I can finish notes at a workstation, and some level of integration of Facebook/Twitter-like communication within care teams (i.e.–during a hospitalization, I can see a feed of everything that has happened to my patient with links within the feed to notes/imaging/labs as they are updated in real-time and be able to leave short messages for other team members).

Health information technology seems to be steadily progressing towards this type of system.  However, the speed is pedestrian at best.  We need an increased pace of innovation and adoption to ensure health information technology keeps up with technological innovations outside the medical world.  Ideally, the medical world could become a place where such technological innovations are pioneered, and it’s the rest of the world trying to keep up.  Keeping pace would be good for now.

Josh Herigon is a medical student who blogs a Number Needed to Treat.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

Let's stop the war between breastfeeding and formula feeding

June 17, 2011 Kevin 38
…
Next

Considering a single payer model for health reform

June 17, 2011 Kevin 82
…

Tagged as: Facebook, Health IT, Twitter

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Let's stop the war between breastfeeding and formula feeding
Next Post >
Considering a single payer model for health reform

More by Josh Herigon, MPH

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Did the NEJM publish a bad study about checklists?

    Josh Herigon, MPH
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    The threat of technology to proper patient care

    Josh Herigon, MPH
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Why medical education needs to evolve away from memorization

    Josh Herigon, MPH

More in Social media

  • From penicillin to digital health: the impact of social media on medicine

    Homer Moutran, MD, MBA, Caline El-Khoury, PhD, and Danielle Wilson
  • Blogging for beginners: tips for success in any niche

    Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Claire Unis, MD
  • Uncovering the hidden struggles of NYC nurses: an insider’s perspective [PODCAST]

    The Podcast by KevinMD
  • What I learned after being hacked on social media

    Cindy Tsai, MD
  • On the internet, you are looking for something to make you angry

    Judson Ellis
  • They didn’t teach social media in medical school

    David Epstein, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • From physician to patient: one doctor’s journey to finding purpose after a devastating injury

      Stephanie Pearson, MD | Physician
    • An unspoken truth about non-compete clauses in medicine

      Harry Severance, MD | Policy
    • Fostering the next (diverse) generation of clinicians

      Imamu Tomlinson, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Healing through love and spirituality

      John T. James, PhD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • The hidden dangers of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act

      Meghan Sheehan, MD | Policy
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools

      Helen Kim, MD | Policy
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • Why are doctors sued and politicians aren’t?

      Kellie Lease Stecher, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Rescuing primary care: the role of health administrators [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Breaking down barriers: How technology is improving diabetes management in underserved communities

      Anonymous | Conditions
    • From penicillin to digital health: the impact of social media on medicine

      Homer Moutran, MD, MBA, Caline El-Khoury, PhD, and Danielle Wilson | Social media
    • Healing the damaged nurse-physician dynamic

      Angel J. Mena, MD and Ali Morin, MSN, RN | Policy
    • How to overcome telemedicine’s biggest obstacles

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Deaths of despair: an urgent call for a collective response to the crisis in U.S. life expectancy

      Mohammed Umer Waris, MD | Policy

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 18 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • Investigational ALS Drug May Have Clinical Benefit, FDA Staff Says
  • Cases of Deadly Fungus Tripled in Past Few Years, CDC Says
  • Small Gains in Cardiorespiratory Fitness Track With Improved Longevity
  • Improved OS With Hyperfractionated RT in Recurrent Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
  • GPT-4 Is Here. How Can Doctors Use Generative AI Now?

Meeting Coverage

  • Rapid Improvement in Atopic Dermatitis With Topical PDE4 Inhibitor
  • New Approaches in the Bladder-Sparing Paradigm
  • Response Rates in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Continue to Climb With New Therapies
  • Another Win for a JAK Inhibitor in Alopecia Areata
  • Biologic Switch Revs Up Response in Plaque Psoriasis
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • From physician to patient: one doctor’s journey to finding purpose after a devastating injury

      Stephanie Pearson, MD | Physician
    • An unspoken truth about non-compete clauses in medicine

      Harry Severance, MD | Policy
    • Fostering the next (diverse) generation of clinicians

      Imamu Tomlinson, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Healing through love and spirituality

      John T. James, PhD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • The hidden dangers of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act

      Meghan Sheehan, MD | Policy
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools

      Helen Kim, MD | Policy
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • Why are doctors sued and politicians aren’t?

      Kellie Lease Stecher, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Rescuing primary care: the role of health administrators [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Breaking down barriers: How technology is improving diabetes management in underserved communities

      Anonymous | Conditions
    • From penicillin to digital health: the impact of social media on medicine

      Homer Moutran, MD, MBA, Caline El-Khoury, PhD, and Danielle Wilson | Social media
    • Healing the damaged nurse-physician dynamic

      Angel J. Mena, MD and Ali Morin, MSN, RN | Policy
    • How to overcome telemedicine’s biggest obstacles

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Deaths of despair: an urgent call for a collective response to the crisis in U.S. life expectancy

      Mohammed Umer Waris, MD | Policy

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today iMedicalApps
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

How social media will merge with electronic medical records
18 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...