Three Ways Social Media is Transforming the Doctor-Patient Relationship

     To wrap up January and our month dedicated to social media in the healthcare industry, it is important to highlight “Three Ways Social Media is Transforming the Doctor-Patient Relationship.” Social media is changing the way doctors and patients interact with one another. Historically, healthcare has been physician-centric; however, because of technology’s impact (including social media) on our world, patients are beginning to play a more active role in their health care. At its core, social media promotes two-way continuous communication between patients and health care providers thus creating a more patient-centered health care experience. According to healthcare technology expert Chris Foster, Principal at Booz Allen Hamilton, three significant ways social media is transforming the health care industry and what it means for the future of patient care are:

     1.) Patient Empowerment
               Patients are using social media to discuss health conditions, seek out information about diseases and treatment options. In addition, social media allows patients to shop around and compare care options—made easy by websites such as PatientsLikeMe.com. Social media puts more control in patients’ hands by giving them access to expansive information, allowing them to be informed and educated advocates of their own care.

     2.) Real-Time Information and Instantaneous Feedback
               We touched on this idea in our earlier blog article, “5 Advantages of Social Media for Physicians in Practice.” This is an important feature of social media because it allows patients to have constant access to care via social networks and live chats. For instance, if a medication is recalled or an outbreak detected, physicians can push this information to their patients within seconds.

     3.) Improved Doctor/Patient Relationships
               The dialogue created by social media is helping to break down the barrier previously held between physicians and patients. A documentary was recently developed by Discovery Communication Health titled “Health IT—Advancing Care, Empowering Patients” which highlights Dr. Bruce Hopper, Jr. who texts, sends instant messages to, and video chats with his patients as much as possible. He also reaches out via Facebook and Twitter to share the latest health care information. When physicians increase their own availability and access, some patients feel closer to their physicians and feel as though their input is more valued leading them to feel as though they are part of a treatment plan.

     Social media is still a very new medium for physicians and patients alike, and we still have one important challenge to address: regulation of content. With the internet making information so readily available, concerns about patient privacy and ethics have come to the forefront of many discussions regarding the topic of social media and the health care industry. For example, is it ok for a patient to “friend” their physician on Facebook? Should physicians have two Facebook accounts—one for personal use and a second one for purely professional use? What about those physicians licensed in New York who are posting treatment information directed at patients in California?

     Despite this challenge, social media is allowing patients and health care professional to collaborate and generate customized solutions to individual patient health problems like never before. Social media is fresh and it’s changing the way we think about managing our health care. In the coming years, we will no doubt see more health related phone apps, health blogs, and web-based technologies to enhance conventional health care.

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Social Media-Proceed with Caution

     Over the past few weeks we have had several entries discussing the value of social media. Social media can be used to build a positive image; however, it may also unknowingly be used to destroy it. When using social media it is important to proceed with caution. You may think only your friends can see what you post, when in reality, you never know who is looking at your information. Once something hits the internet, there is no turning back. Examples of images being shattered via social media include Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Rashard Mendenhall’s tweet regarding the death of Osama bin Laden. Former Congressman Anthony Weiner will not be remembered for his legislative accomplishments, instead he will be known for the career destroying photo he published on Twitter. The lesson here is if you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see it or read it, don’t upload it, post it or tweet it!

     It is also important to remember that your opinion may not be shared by everyone. In fact some people may find it offensive. It is necessary to show restraint in certain areas, implement a filter, consider your audience and proceed with caution. In my daily activity I’ve even seen it have a negative impact on providers getting interviews. What better place to take something out of context than a social media outlet that displays pictures or quotes? Political preferences, religious views and a hand full of other opinions have cost people jobs and relationships. There is a fine line between freedom of speech and showing respect for all views. Offending people isn’t hard, especially when you have such a saturated mix of audience via social media. The lesson here is when in doubt, leave it out!

     Although it is important to remember to filter while using social media, don’t let it deter you from utilizing the many social networking sites.  It is an effective outlet for both professional and personal networking, just remember: 

 
Proceed with caution.
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This article was written by: Stephen Fish, Director of Business Development for Fidelis Partners.
Connect with Stephen:
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Can Online Scheduling Increase Patient Satisfaction?

     Take Care Health Systems, a subsidiary of Walgreens, have introduced online scheduling into their care clinics. Take Care Clinics are in select Walgreens stores throughout the country and provide primary care to patients. The online scheduling option at Take Care Clinics allows patients to review the available appoint times, as well as actually book their appointment on the internet or through an in-store kiosk. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), about 20% of Family Practice physicians offer the opportunity for patients to request appointment times online, however, they still need to call to actually set the appointments.

     Even though Take Care Clinics tend to have quick, less complex appointments than other specialties, the technology is worth consideration. Online scheduling provides another avenue to engage patients through technology. It gives patients the autonomy to decide what time best fits their busy lifestyles and increases patient satisfaction.

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YouTube in Healthcare

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

     Everyone has gone on YouTube to watch the single ladies dancing baby, the double rainbow guy and that cute sneezing panda, but the site isn't just for entertainment. YouTube is the 3rd most visited website behind Google and Facebook and it’s already being used for patient education and healthcare marketing.

     Several people are using YouTube to self-diagnose and self-treat. You’ll find videos of people with no medical training performing at-home remedies or do-it-yourself procedures and the viewers take this advice to heart. “I don’t have the money to have a doctor remove my cyst, but this guy on YouTube removed his, so it can’t be that hard.”

     Healthcare professionals can do their part by providing free access to accurate information on health related topics. Children’s Hospital in Boston has over 1,000 videos on their YouTube Channel. Several of their videos are targeted towards patient education with topics ranging from Eating Out with Celiac Disease to Putting Contact Lenses in Young Children. By inserting themselves into the YouTube community, they are ensuring their customers have a reliable source for healthcare advice.

     Aside from acting as a source for patient education, if used correctly, YouTube can be a very useful business tool. Carolinas Healthcare System uses YouTube to broadcast a weekly news segment to market their facilities. They talk about current events in healthcare and they make sure to highlight new site openings and cutting-edge technology at their locations. Several facilities like Altoona Regional Healthcare System and University of Maryland Medical System have even turned to YouTube to help with their recruiting efforts. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be even better!

     YouTube also provides free analytical tools that help measure the success of videos. The “Insight” feature tracks viewer demographics, shows when people stop watching your video and even how much time viewers spend on each part of your video. With all these features available for free, taking advantage of them as a business should be a no-brainer.

     Social Media outlets like YouTube are contributing to the establishment of online reputations of healthcare companies and providers. That trend is only forecasted to continue, so it behooves hospitals and doctors to proactively establish a social media presence.

     Of course, the entertainment side is not going away, but there’s plenty of healthcare entertainment out there as well!

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Lindsay Harris is the Director of Business Development at Medestar.
Connect with Lindsay:
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Social Media as a Way to Track Epidemics

     According to an article on the Voice of America website, Harvard Medical School in association with Children’s Hospital Boston found that social media and news reports can accurately track the growth of epidemics such as the cholera outbreak in Haiti in 2010, while also delivering data faster than government agencies.
   
     When epidemics begin, hospitals and clinics begin sending official reports to agencies such as the Ministry of Public Health, while at the same time stories concerning the epidemics are relayed on news reports as well as social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter. As Rumi Chunara confirms in her official research published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the informal media—meaning Facebook, Twitter, and news sources—do a fairly reliable job of tracking official reports. For instance, as the official number of reported cases of an epidemic rises, so does the amount of informal media coverage; and when the official number of reported cases of an epidemic falls, so does the amount of informal media coverage.
   
     We can’t solely rely on informal media reports to keep us informed about official epidemic coverage, however. Official statistics reported to agencies such as the Ministry of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are carefully validated and go through a rigorous evaluation process. In contrast, news and social media reports don’t have a validation process, however they are available more quickly. Each has its place—informal media to indicate a general understanding of epidemiological patterns in real time giving the ability to deploy control measures faster and official statistics as a way to accurately track the spread, official cases, and (hopefully) eradication of any given epidemic.

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5 Advantages of Social Media for Physicians in Practice

Using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, blogging, and Four Square as a business tool offers practicing physicians multiple opportunities to connect with patients and grow their practice. Here is a roundup of some of the advantages of social media for your practice.

     1.) Low cost
          Using traditional advertising strategies such as radio, TV, newspapers, billboards, or internet banner ads can cost a small fortune and are out of reach for smaller hospitals or practices. One of the greatest benefits of social media networks is that they effectively reach a wide range of consumers free of cost. As a physician, you can dive into the social media culture by utilizing Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In. Increase your competitive advantage and market your skills, knowledge, and services to potential patients, all for free!

     2.) Builds Credibility
          Social media allows your current patients to express their satisfaction with your knowledge and clinical skill while also allowing potential patients to read these reviews and chose you over the doctor down the street. With the internet readily available, use it to be more accessible to your patients with advice and healthcare news thus proving you are a better resource than WebMD and therefore driving patients to you.

     3.) Increase Patient Pool
          The base of social networking is human connections. When you connect with your patients, it indirectly connects you to their friends and followers who in turn can become new patients. When someone visits your Facebook page and sees five of their friends are a fan of you, they are more likely to pick up the phone and make an appointment with you.

     4.) Up-to-Date Information
          Practices change daily and so can social media. It can easily and quickly inform and keep current and potential patients involved in your practice by informing them of business hour changes, flu shot specials, and anything else happening in your practice.

     5.) Fast and Reliable Feedback
          Social media allows you to gather and interpret patient feedback directly from the patients themselves much faster than any other means. You can see exactly what your patients are saying about you and your practice and obtain an improved understanding of what patients want. For instance, if multiple patients ask you similar questions about the flu shot each fall, you can proactively post/tweet an article that addresses their concerns.

It is important to remember to always maintain a professional persona on all social networking sites. People are looking for information online; let them look to you for answers.

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Who Can See Your Personal Information?

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     Apps can have access to your various social media accounts; do you know which apps have access to which accounts? Chances are, probably not. Allowing apps to have access to your accounts is simple task done when you first create an account, we don't even think about it anymore. The tricky part is, however, remembering which apps have access to which accounts, and remembering when to disconnect these apps from your personal information. The good news is there is a fast, easy solution: mypermissions.org. This site lists eight major social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Flickr.
   
     Does it sound like just another app to grant permission to? Well it’s not! It is simply a list of handy links to help you check your own permissions as well as a service to remind you to clean up your permissions once monthly (if you choose). The site’s main purpose, above all else, is to be an aggregator and a way to make sure you are aware of who can see the personal information you are sharing online through social media sites.

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