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.