MedWorm Tags: healthcare social media

Nationwide EHR and Health Care in the Cloud

EMR and HIPAA — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 07:20:12 +0100

Time to touch on a few popular topics that I found being discussed on Twitter. First, I’ll put the tweets and then a little but of my own commentary on these hot button issues in healthcare IT. @GovHIT Does a nationwide #EHR lower healthcare costs? Social media reactions | #GovHIT Blog http://ow.ly/64DL1 I always love when people talk about a nationwide EHR. I actually think that it’s a bad title by Government Healthcare IT, but that it’s a very good question. To me a nationwide EHR implies that there is one EHR for the entire nation. I think a number of other countries which are much smaller and less complex than the US have proven quite well that a nationwide government run EHR is a bad idea. I think the Government HIT article actually refers more to widespread adoption...

Healthcare Social Media Analytics

Fox ePractice — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:34:53 +0100

Data is great, and boy do we have lots of data from the millions of Twitter conversations we have in our healthcare social media database. However, data isn’t very useful or say user-friendly until after you’ve curated and analyzed it. The Healthcare Hashtag Project is now taking some small first steps into the realm of analytics. What are Healthcare Social Media Analytics? There are so many questions we can answer with all the data we have, but asking too many questions defeats the purpose of simplifying the data. That’s why we are starting very carefully with asking only a few questions. Our audience is the healthcare community at large consisting of physicians and other healthcare providers, as well as patients. How can we help them? We’ve decided to keep it simple and focus...

Healthcare Conference Hashtags

Fox ePractice — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 23:15:11 +0100

You know the story. You’re attending a healthcare conference and have one of those moments where something of real value to you was said. Or perhaps you’re attending one of these special unconferences that spur incredible creativity and innovating thought. In both cases, two issues often pop up. “I need to make some good notes of this”, and “more people should have been here right now to hear this stuff”. Just a short time ago, many of these in-the-moment ideas during these conferences were often strictly limited to the attending participants and closed to the public. It’s pretty safe to say that those ideas would have had a better chance of being profitable had the audience been greater and the conference more open. Twitter enters Healthcare Conferences That was the pre-Twi...

Email and Twitter Follow Up With Patients

EMR and HIPAA — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 05:39:14 +0100

Tonight I happened to eavesdrop (the beauty of Twitter) on a Twitter conversation between Bobby Ghaheri, MD (@DrGhaheri) and Chad Peterson (@hosewater2). Dr. Ghaheri is an ENT/Facial Plastic Surgeon and Dr. Peterson is a hockey loving urologist. I loved their twitter exchange about email and Twitter follow up with patients, so I’m posting it here for others to comment on. UPDATE: Since there’s a problem with pulling in the tweets automatically from Twitter, here’s what was said: DrGhaheri Bobby Ghaheri, MD I use email and Twitter to follow-up on my patients. #hcsm hosewater2 Chad Peterson @DrGhaheri I don’t use email or twitter with patients. Just encourages unnecessary undocumented interactions. Is twitter HIPaa certified? DrGhaheri Bobby Ghaheri, MD @hosewater2 I ...

Social Media Indicators

EMR and HIPAA — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:24:34 +0100

I’m not sure how many of you have followed the announcement of the Google 1+ button. If you haven’t seen them yet, you’ll start seeing them sprinkled all over the internet soon. I just added them to a couple of my sites including EMR and HIPAA. You can see it next to the Facebook button on the right side of each post. Feel free to click it if you’re reading a post that you like. It’s a simple action which can tell me a lot about whether people like the post or not. Of course, I’ve been using social media indicators like this for a while. For example, I’ve known the number of people who tweeted out my various posts on Twitter. I often can see how many times an article gets published on Facebook. I always love to get feedback like this that tells me ...

Making Sure You Have The Right Diagnosis: Tips From An Internet-Savvy Patient

Better Health — Thu, 19 May 2011 17:00:27 +0100

People generally have a sense there might be information on the Web that can help them when they are worried about their health. They also have a sense there is a LOT of information and some of it may be wrong. All of that is true. What is a strategy to find the good and avoid the bad? This morning, I chatted with Mike Collins, host of “Charlotte Talks” on WFAE, public radio in Charlotte, North Carolina about The Web-Savvy Patient and some of my “Insider Tips” within. We talked at length about how you can get started looking for health information on the Web. First of all, if you’re worried about your health, make sure you get an accurate diagnosis, and make sure that diagnosis is specific to you. Don’t be satisfied if your health care team tells you that you have a “thyroid ...

Physician Says It’s Legally Safer To Blog About Food Than Healthcare

Better Health — Fri, 06 May 2011 17:00:44 +0100

A Rhode Island emergency room doc has been fired for posting about a trauma patient on her facebook page. While the post did not reveal patient name or personal identifiers, it had enough clinical info that a third party was able to recognize the patient. I say if you’re going to write online about a patient, you had better disguise them so well they don’t even recognize themselves, and never post anywhere near the time of the event’s occurrence. Some bloggers I know change age, sex and other details, and post events long after they’ve happened, so no one one could ever know for sure who they’re talking about. Some doc bloggers go so far as to disguise themselves – preferring to remain anonymous both to protect themselves and their patients. Some medical blogsites are rich wi...

Healthcare Twitter Roundup

EMR and HIPAA — Mon, 02 May 2011 06:14:30 +0100

It’s that time again for a quick roundup of some interesting tweets happening out their in the wonderful twittersphere. #bbpBox_64113991093456896 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0084B4; }#bbpBox_64113991093456896 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } (awkward moments on Twitter) RT @techguy: Is that a change? ;-) RT @Doctor_V I’m gonna turn 33 charts into a link-baiting content farm April 29, 2011 4:49 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite @Doctor_V Bryan Vartabedian This series of responses made me laugh. Mostly because my response was totally facetious (and just like me in real life). I wouldn’t have said it if it were true. 33 Charts is an amazing blog. Especially if you love social media and healthcare. #bbpBox_64864986551427072 a { text-decoration:none; col...

Defining Online Physician Conduct

Better Health — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 20:00:27 +0100

This week a reporter cornered me on the issue of professional behavior in the social space. How is it defined? I didn’t have an answer. But it’s something that I think about. Perhaps there isn’t much to think about. As a “representative” of my hospital and a physician to the children in my community, how I behave in public isn’t any different than a decade ago. Social media is just another public space. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we’re in public. When I’m wrapped up in a Twitter thread it’s easy to forget that the world is watching. But the solution is simple: Always remember that the world is watching. On Twitter I think and behave as I do in public: Very much myself but considerate of those around me. I always think about how I might be perceived....

Narrative Medicine: Healing Through Storytelling

Better Health — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:00:32 +0100

More in the evolving meme of narrative medicine: Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (my alma mater) have found that for a select population of individuals, listening to personal narratives helps control blood pressure. While the power of stories is old news, the connection to clinical outcomes is what’s newsworthy here. Read Dr. Pauline Chen’s nice piece in the New York Times. The implications for ongoing work in this area are mind boggling. The Annals of Internal Medicine study authors sum it up nicely: Emerging evidence suggests that storytelling, or narrative communication, may offer a unique opportunity to promote evidence-based choices in a culturally appropriate context. Stories can help listeners make meaning of their lives, and listeners may be in...

Best Practices for Healthcare Facebook Page

Fox ePractice — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:59:01 +0100

In its initial stage, healthcare social media was perceived by some as “free advertising”. That was a grave misunderstanding.Such a perception might have come about because there were no direct cash outlays for using this communication channel in healthcare organizations. Brochures, print, TV, and phone communication all have a usage price tag on them, but social media has a different kind price tag–time, creativity, openness, and a love for the services you provide.In short, there is nothing free in healthcare social media. As with everything else in life, a successful healthcare social media presence takes work. But that being said, following some basic principles will get you going and keep you on track. As an example, below are some best practices for management of yo...

The Weekly Scoop #2 – Best Practices in Healthcare Social Media

Fox ePractice — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:32:27 +0100

Social Media Policy: Lessons Learned Are you still contemplating whether your organization needs to create and enforce a detailed social media policy? Then consider this: A Georgia health system has fired three employees and disciplined five others after a digital image of a male patient’s pelvic region showed up on Facebook and was texted by cell phone. Learn More… // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 2, interval: 6000, width: 250, height: 250, theme: { shell: { background: '#e4eff2', color: '#007e9a' }, tweets: { background: '#FBFBFB', color: '#595959', links: '#007e9a' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: false, live: false, hashtags: true, timestamp: true, avatars: false, beh...

The Weekly Scoop #1 – Best Practices in Healthcare Social Media

Fox ePractice — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:52:15 +0100

Doctors, Fear and Barriers to Social Media Adoption " Is fear specific to doctors? No, but I think the issues are magnified with medical professionals. Image, social voice/personality, permanency, and fear of legal repercussions are among concerns that are disproportionately felt by doctors. So can we mitigate this fear in any way and break the barriers to entry for doctors?" Learn More… // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 2, interval: 6000, width: 250, height: 250, theme: { shell: { background: '#e4eff2', color: '#007e9a' }, tweets: { background: '#FBFBFB', color: '#595959', links: '#007e9a' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: false, live: false, hashtags: true, timestamp: t...

The Weekly Scoop #2 – Best Practices in Healthcare Social Media.

Fox ePractice — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:52:15 +0100

Doctors, Fear and Barriers to Social Media Adoption " Is fear specific to doctors? No, but I think the issues are magnified with medical professionals. Image, social voice/personality, permanency, and fear of legal repercussions are among concerns that are disproportionately felt by doctors. So can we mitigate this fear in any way and break the barriers to entry for doctors?" Learn More… // < ![CDATA[ // Medical practices increasingly allow online appointments ZocDoc is an online service that allows patients to schedule physician appointments. It is currently in several major US cities and is looking to expand. Its existence further illustrates the movement of patients to the online sphere. Learn More… // < ![CDATA[ // Online Tool ...

Two Docs Who’ve Passed: They Might’ve Been Social Media Giants

Better Health — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 16:00:00 +0100

This year I learned about the death of two physicians that were pretty important to me. The first was my pathology teacher, Dr. Guido Majno. In addition to being a tremendously kind and curious person, he and his wife wrote the best textbook I’ve ever read. The second death was that of my pediatrician growing up, Dr. Thomas Peebles. Funny, although he followed me from birth to high school, my family never knew about his incredible research background. We learned it in the many obituaries. It’s worth reflecting on their accomplishments and the manner in which they conducted their lives and practice — especially in this era, when doctors are encouraged to develop their social media presence and be proactive about online reviews. Would they have used these new tools? Would ...

Healthcare Twitter Transcripts

Fox ePractice — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:01:56 +0100

It’s been almost two months since we launched the Healthcare Hashtag Project and we have done a few incremental updates since then, but today we’re excited to announce some great new features that we hope will be useful for the community.1,000,000 Healthcare Tweets!Since the start of the project we have been creating an archive of all tweets that have been tagged with the healthcare hashtags we follow. Using these 200 non-disease hashtags, you have created over 1 million tweets!This number is simply staggering! Even when we eliminate “spam” from certain hashtags, it’s beyond doubt that there are an incredible number of conversations taking place in a large number of medical specialties and healthcare interests. There is much to gain and little to loose by joi...

Chronic Illness And “The Spoon Theory”

Better Health — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:00:16 +0100

If you don’t truly understand how draining it can be to live with chronic illness, including chronic pain, go read The Spoon Theory right now. In five minutes it forever changed my own awareness of my wife’s arthritis and bone pain. On Twitter I saw “spoonies” raving about this months ago, but I finally took time to read it: 2,100 words and worth every second. Also, on Twitter follow @bydls – “But you don’t look sick!” – and explore their smart website, where they’re wisely selling posters of the story for doctors’ waiting rooms, and everything else imaginable in modern outreach through social media. These are smart people, and this is a powerful piece of writing. *This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net* (Source: Better Health)

Social Media For Doctors: The Pros And Cons

Better Health — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:00:00 +0100

The pros and cons of social media for physicians are nicely reviewed by a number of prominent medbloggers (including yours truly) by Bonnie Ellerin in her recent white paper (pdf). An excerpt: There is a profound change sweeping the world of medicine. Technology is the driver, but it has nothing to do with a new drug, device or procedure. Rather it is about the change in physician behavior and mindset that technology — the Internet more specifically — has unleashed. Today, physicians of all ages and specialties are online, whether via laptop, desktop, or mobile. With physicians’ acceptance of technology has come a new type of openness among a small but growing number. In the past, the only doctors who were likely to air views publicly were medical journalists. But, today, there are p...

The Weekly Scoop #48 – Best Practices in Healthcare Social Media

Fox ePractice — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 21:55:17 +0100

Physician Community Divided Over Healthcare Social Media Physicians, like the rest of the population are taking the social media plunge. Some say it strengthens the patient-physician relationship and others argue that it blurs the line between personal and professional relationships. Others add that it raises privacy and liability issues. This post examines some reasons why physicians have immersed themselves into healthcare social media. Learn More… // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 2, interval: 6000, width: 250, height: 250, theme: { shell: { background: '#e4eff2', color: '#007e9a' }, tweets: { background: '#FBFBFB', color: '#595959', links: '#007e9a' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: fa...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #48

Fox ePractice — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 21:55:17 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthcare social media best practice examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: Physician Community Divided Over Healthcare Social Media Physicians, like the rest of the populat...

Should Children’s Hospitals Do Social Media?

Better Health — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 23:00:30 +0100

I [recently] participated in an interview for an upcoming publication. As the interview wound down, the dialog downshifted into small talk that included, among other things, hospital blogs. The interviewer (who had recently been exploring the blogging community) asked me what I thought about Thrive’s (Boston Children’s Hospital blog) recent birthday nod to Seattle Mama Doc (Seattle Children’s Hospital blog). More specifically, did I think it was unusual that one children’s hospital would congratulate a competing institution on its one-year anniversary? I thought the question was odd but it got me thinking: Do children’s hospitals compete in the social space? I don’t think so. They shouldn’t. And if they were competing, what would they be competing for? Children’s hospita...

The AMA’s Policy On Professionalism In The Use Of Social Media

Better Health — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:00:18 +0100

A new policy on professionalism in the use of social media was [recently] adopted by the American Medical Association (AMA). The AMA Office of Media Relations was kind enough to share a copy of the policy: The Internet has created the ability for medical students and physicians to communicate and share information quickly and to reach millions of people easily. Participating in social networking and other similar Internet opportunities can support physicians’ personal expression, enable individual physicians to have a professional presence online, foster collegiality and camaraderie within the profession, provide opportunity to widely disseminate public health messages and other health communication. Social networks, blogs, and other forms of communication online also create new challe...

Healthcare Hashtags and the Tweet Chat

Fox ePractice — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:22:42 +0100

“Twitter – and more so Twitter chats – are like those Magic Eye stereograms – it takes a certain way of looking to see what’s going on: you may or may not care for the picture, but your way of seeing things changes.” ~ Phil Baumann (@PhilBaumann) Phase I Reaction - The Healthcare Hashtag Project I LOVE opportunities like this! A chance to thank so many people for their help, and so many more for their interest and support. Three weeks ago I wrote to you about the launch of our “Healthcare Hashtag Project“. An effort to bring greater order and discovery to the many healthcare conversations taking place on Twitter every day. The response was overwhelming, and we received a number of suggestions from which we’ve published several new ad...

When A Patient Contacts A Doctor On Twitter

Better Health — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 23:00:23 +0100

When perusing my Twitter feed [one] morning, I stumbled onto this post directed to me: Patients reaching me in public social spaces is becoming a regular thing. I’ve discussed this in the past, but I think it bears repeating. So here’s what I did: I understood the mom’s needs. Patients resort to “nontraditional” means of communication when the traditional channels fail to meet their needs. Recognize that these patients (or parents in my case) are simply advocating for themselves. My specialty struggles with a shortage of physicians, so we’re dependent upon phone triage to sort out the really sick from the less-than-sick. It’s an imperfect system and consequently parents find themselves having to speak up when the gravity of their child’s condition hasn’t be...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #45

Fox ePractice — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 18:00:36 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: 5 Ways Social Media Helps Promote Good Health A report on chronic disease and the Internet by the Pew Internet and American Life...

Swanson: Physicians Have An Ethical Duty To Participate In Social Media

Better Health — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:00:01 +0100

Wendy Sue Swanson, MD Most physicians still don’t see the need to blog, Tweet, or spend time on Facebook. They groan when you ask if they participate on social media platforms. “I’m too busy seeing patients,” they say, “and why would I expose myself to legal risk? Someone might think that I’m giving medical advice, or disclosing personal information about patients online.” While these fears are pervasive, early adopters of social media like Dr. Wendy Swanson (and yours truly, by the way) have a different view. Not only should physicians become active in social media, but they have an ethical responsibility to do so. Wendy is a pediatrician, mother, and blogger at Seattle Children’s Hospital. My friend “ePatient Dave” deBronkart re...

Social Media Managers: Can They Get More Doctors To Go Online?

Better Health — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:00:25 +0100

A social media manager is becoming an imperative position for hospitals. Medical institutions are waking up to the fact that they need to engage their patients and physicians online. Nowhere is there more fertile growth than in the various social media platforms that are prevalent today — like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. American Medical News recently profiled the phenomenon, highlighting the position of social media manager, which some institutions pay between $60,000 and $80,000 per year. As it stands, many hospitals are tiptoeing into the world of social networks, guided by the able hands of select online mavens like Mayo Clinic’s Lee Aase and Swedish Medical Center’s Dana Lewis. However, convincing executives of the return on investment remains a challenge. (more…) ...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #44

Fox ePractice — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 00:35:04 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: What to Do When Patients Contact You on Twitter A step by step example of how a physician can effectively handle the increasingly...

The CDC’s Social Media Toolkit

Better Health — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:00:11 +0100

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published the newest “Health Communicator’s Social Media Toolkit.” From the CDC: A guide to using social media to improve reach of health messages, increase access to your content, further participation with audiences, and advance transparency to improve health communication efforts. The guide is truly fantastic, detailed, and comprehensive. *This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll* (Source: Better Health)

Healthcare Hashtags – a Social Project

Fox ePractice — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:42:42 +0100

“Hashtags were popularized during the San Diego fires in 2007 when @nateritter used the hashtag “#sandiegofire” to identify his updates related to the disaster.“ ~ Twitter Fan Wiki Twitter was All So Simple When Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, (aka @jack) sent his first tweet it was pretty simple and straight forward. Furthermore, if anyone wanted to find his tweet, that was pretty simple too, because Jack’s tweet was the very first tweet … ever! So there wasn’t much competition. It didn’t fall unbelievably far down everyone’s home-feed in just a few heartbeats, and it wasn’t lost among the barrage of tweets about last night’s game, the news story of the day, or what all of your friends were having for dinner. Jack Dorsey's Sketch of Twitt...

Are Social Networks Compatible Or Competitive?

Better Health — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 12:00:04 +0100

I was in Las Vegas, but it wasn’t all just spending quality time with blogging buddies. There was work to do — we were there for the Social Health track of BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2010 to help inform others about the discussions taking place in the medical blogosphere, and the power of these communities. The panel that I was participating on was Social Networks & The Medical Blogosphere: Compatible or Competitive, with fellow panelists Kevin Pho and Bryan Vartabedian (see photo) moderated by the fabulous Kim McAllister. The big question was: “Are these social networking technologies helping or hurting the blogosphere?” We, as a panel, gave this a lot of thought as we prepared for our discussion, and we ultimately settled on the answer of “W...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #41

Fox ePractice — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:35:37 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: Docs Look to Social Media for Use as Part of Med. Care Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/10/14/doctors-look-to-soci...

Online EMR Resource – LinkedIn

EMR and HIPAA — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 14:10:42 +0100

There are a ton of EMR resources online these days. I remember when I started this blog, there really was only a small handful of people talking about EMR. Now, it’s kind of exploded and there’s conversations happening all over the internet about EMR. That’s why I’m particularly grateful for those who read this blog, participate in the comments and find value from it. One of my more recent finds is the group forums on LinkedIn. They’re definitely not perfect and sometimes get too much spam, but they are an interesting place to discuss EMR. Here’s an example of a group about Small Medical Practice EMR and PM Solutions. Pretty much a perfect match for this blog right? One of the key things I like about the groups on LinkedIn is that people’s comments...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #40

Fox ePractice — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 22:54:22 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: Transcript of the First MDchat for October 5, 2010 October 5, 2010 saw an internet event take place the likes of which we’...

Game Dynamics & Geo Location – Will HIPAA Kill It?

Fox ePractice — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:07:12 +0100

As a result of bringing location-based social networking to the masses, Facebook Places will also bring us game dynamics. This will have huge implications for local businesses, including hospitals, medical practices and other healthcare providers. Let’s look at the implications and opportunities that the adoption of this technology will have for medical providers. What are game dynamics? If you’ve got 10 minutes, you may want to watch the highly distributed TED video “The Game Layer on Top of the World” (scroll to the bottom of this article for the video). In short, it’s just a fancy name for a range of incentives that reward desired behavior. We’ve had game dynamics in the “real world” for a long time, but it has recently been taken to ...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #39

Fox ePractice — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 20:21:25 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: Top Five Reasons Dentists Will Not Use Social Media “Too Many Pieces” … Not “Not Enough Time” &...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #38

Fox ePractice — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:12:59 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: Caregivers’ Use of Online Health Information The results of this e-health study speak to the significant support that ca...

A Nursing Home Administrator, a Healthcare Consultant…but I never knew I was a ‘Middle Boomer’!

Fox ePractice — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:41:19 +0100

Well, I sure didn’t until I read an article the other day which said that “middle boomers” are those individuals who were born between 1952 and 1958. I quickly realized that I was a member of this group, one which apparently, differs distinctly from the youngest and oldest boomers, so called “bookends”. We middle boomers (can I call us “mb’s” for short?) number 29 million, comprise 38% of all baby boomers and make up 10% of the U.S. population, which makes us mb’s the largest of the three baby boomer segments. A recent MetLife study shows some interesting characteristics for us mb’s: Most middle boomers consider themselves in good health but many are concerned about their ability to afford rising health care costs. Only 8% of middle boomers are fully retired and...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #37

Fox ePractice — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:23:44 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: yes The Power of Mobile This short presentation is a must watch for all healthcare providers. Susannah Fox, the leading researc...

Twitter Basics for Healthcare Businesses

Fox ePractice — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:13:44 +0100

“Web 1.0 was where corporations thought the internet was another dandy platform for telling us what they wanted us to know. Web 2.0 was where we showed them that the internet is about us, not them, and that if they want to stay around, they’d better sit back, shut up, and listen. Web 2.0, like Rock and Roll, is here to stay.” ~ Ray Beckerman The Journey My then 16 year old daughter stared at her newly created Twitter account, carefully contemplating her first tweet. The look on her face was one of complete bewilderment. “I’m eating ice cream” she quickly typed, and assertively hit the tweet button. After a few moments more of staring at her Twitter home page, with its one lonesome tweet now on display and looking like an abandoned thought, she turned to look...

The Top 5 Doctors On Twitter

Better Health — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:00:45 +0100

I got the honour to be included in the list of the top 5 [Twitter] doctors in medicine published by The Independent. The list was based on Twitterdoctors.net which uses the Klout algorithm for determining the influence of tweeting doctors: TwitterDoctors.net updates hourly the influence of doctors tweeting based on their activity, RTs (retweets) and followers. The site began its list at the end of July and boasts “1287 doctors with more joining every day” from around the globe including Australia, Belgium, India, UK, Jamaica, Japan, Colombia and the USA. On September 7, the top five most influential doctors are: 1. @DRoftheVaJayJay 2. @drdrew 3. @brontyman 4. @Berci 5. @hrana It doesn’t mean that much, but it’s good to know people like the content I share day by day. *This ...

Is There Social Health Psychomanipulation?

Better Health — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:00:59 +0100

Last week Michael Arrington wrote an important piece in Techcrunch, “Blogging and Mass Psychomanipulation.” It details how as bloggers we play to our readers for positive regard. We give ‘em red meat. I think there’s social health psychomanipulation. Many of us indulge the obvious social health memes. We universally bash pharma, blindly buoy the empowered, and champion just about anything at the intersection of digitally democracy and health care. Too many want to be accepted, retweeted, and linked by an evolving hierarchy of power brokers looking to advance one self-imposed new standard. And every now and again I fall into the trap and offer bread and circus. If you’re preoccupied with traffic metrics and the blind need to belong, go ahead and jump on the bandwagon.�...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #36

Fox ePractice — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:40:19 +0100

This article addresses how much time users spend on Facebook, the effectiveness of Facebook ads and trends among online merchants. Read the report… // < ![CDATA[ new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 2, interval: 6000, width: 250, height: 250, theme: { shell: { background: '#e4eff2', color: '#007e9a' }, tweets: { background: '#FBFBFB', color: '#595959', links: '#007e9a' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: false, live: false, hashtags: true, timestamp: true, avatars: false, behavior: 'all' } }).render().setUser('amyporterfield').start(); // ]]> This Week’s The Chair of Cheer “The Chair of Cheer” is our pick of the week display of great social media execution in the healthcare industry. ...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #35

Fox ePractice — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:23:58 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: yes The 5 Basic Rules for Happiness on Twitter The number “13″ is normally associated with bad luck, but this list ...

Tweetchat For Doctors?

Better Health — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:00:20 +0100

Lately there’s been talk of a tweetchat for doctors. The issue has surfaced on Twitter over the past couple of weeks. The idea is out there –- the genie’s out of the bottle. There will be a tweetchat for physicians. But I’m not sure we need it. We may want to think about why we need a Twitter discussion group and what we’d like to get out of it. I look at tweetchats like I look at medical meetings: I go to see old friends in one place. Most of what’s discussed was public long before the meeting. The most interesting stuff happens in the hallway. With that said I still go to medical meetings. But it’s usually to cultivate relationships. And tweetchats do accomplish that. I like to participate in tweetchats to see who shows up. I like to look at how people behave, how t...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #34

Fox ePractice — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:46:10 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: yes Twitter in the Operating Room – No Longer News “If it’s okay with everyone I’d like to declare the dog and pony...

How to add your Medical Practice to Facebook Places

Fox ePractice — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:07:54 +0100

Facebook Places and the Healthcare Industry On August 18th Facebook finally launched their long expected entry into the location-based social network scene. We can say pretty safely that this is going to be another milestone for healthcare social media. With over 500 million members, whatever direction Facebook chooses to go with this new feature, it’s going to make a big splash. Read our previous article on why Facebook Places is going to impact medical practices and the general healthcare industry. Who is listed in Facebook Places’s Database? Facebook is sourcing all its business listings from Localeze, a company that specializes in business listing and identity management for local search engines. Localeze has supplied Facebook with about 600,000 verified business listing...

Why Facebook Places is going to be a big deal for the healthcare industry

Fox ePractice — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:02:36 +0100

What is Facebook Places? Let’s start with the basics. Facebook Places is basically a mobile app feature that allows you to share where you are located and see where your friends are physically located. You can choose to “check in” virtually with Facebook Places when you visit your local coffee shop or your local dentist, immediately communicating to your friends where you are. After checking in, you can leave a comment and see others that have checked in at that same place. Privacy restrictions will limit who will see your comments and check ins. For now only Facebook for iPhone and mobile phones capable of viewing HTML5 webpages can use Facebook Places. See also: How to add your Medical Practice to Facebook Places Late in the game, no innovation from Facebook…ye...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #33

Fox ePractice — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 23:31:44 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: yes Target your social media use to your intended audience “… physicians trying to establish their own reputations ...

The Difference Between “Passion” And “Psychosis” In Social Media

Better Health — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:00:59 +0100

What’s the difference between “passion” and “psychosis?” Passion enables you to seek out the things that help you get things done. Psychosis drives you to see things that aren’t there, or to think in ways that are disconnected from reality. A lot of people today are passionate about social media. And there’s good reason: These media are creating new ways of connecting and sharing and communicating. There’s also a lot of misunderstanding, though, about the nature, promises and limits of these technologies which indeed are reshaping the way we do things. (more…) *This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann* (Source: Better Health)

Facebook: Should Hospitals Block It?

Better Health — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:00:07 +0100

A recent piece in the LA Times created quite a kerfuffle in the social health infosphere. The article When Facebook goes to the hospital, patients may suffer detailed some of the issues facing hospitals that have chosen to flirt with Facebook. Stories of nurses posting images of dead patients. Lawsuits and employee rights. An interesting read. It offered up a serving of fresh red meat for those health professionals looking to keep their heads squarely in the sand. A few thoughts: Blocking Facebook won’t stop stupidity. Read Paul Levy’s most recent post on the issue. He reminds us that administrative legislation will not stop ignorance. It’s the messenger, not the medium. As healthcare administration’s most vocal advocate for social adoption, I’d recommend you check out P...

Doctors And Social Media: To Interact With Colleagues Or Influence Patient Care?

Better Health — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:00:00 +0100

“Live the questions now. Perhaps then, without hardly noticing, you will live along some distant day into the answers.” - Rainer Maria Rilke With the tectonic shifts underway in America’s healthcare delivery model, doctors influence in shaping the forces ahead seems to be dwindling. It started with the entire healthcare bill drafted by a team of some undisclosed, very influential academics, lawyers and policy wonks adept at social security and tax laws and was morphed by corporate and hospital interests with huge political and financial influence. Before the legislation was even read, the American Medical Association had stamped their seal of approval, worried that “they’d be eaten if they weren’t at the table.” As a result, a significant number, n...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #32

Fox ePractice — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:56:37 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: yes Effective Social Media For The 55 or Better Crowd One year ago, Redstone Highlands Senior Living Communities, a CCRC outsid...

Pulmonary Specialty: Who to Follow on Twitter

Fox ePractice — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:38:38 +0100

In our previous article, we presented our best practice for finding the right people to follow on twitter within a medical specialty. Those general Twitter tips will work for any healthcare organization looking to kick-start their Twitter presence regardless of healthcare specialty. In this article, we will take it one step further and present to you the end result of using those best practices in real life. The following is a list of Twitter users we created for one of our pulmonary clients. This pulmomary group subscribes to a medical Twitter service we offer where we create, maintain and monitor their medical Twitter account. We believe this list contains some of the must follow Twitter users for pulmonologists, pulmonary medical groups, pulmonary patients and students of pulmonology. ...

Who to follow on Twitter within your medical specialty

Fox ePractice — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:45:07 +0100

So you have finally created a Twitter account for your medical practice and are ready to take on the world of healthcare social media, but what’s the next step? Creating the account was a great milestone (which should be celebrated!), but that was the easy part of your twitter creation process. We see a lot of abandoned medical Twitter accounts that never get past that first milestone. Here are some useful next action steps you want to take for your medical group’s presence on twitter. Follow thought leaders and trusted authorities within your medical field No one except you knows better where to look to for trusted information within your medical specialty. For years you have followed them in the offline world, the printed world, and you now look for them in the world of heal...

The Mayo Clinic Center For Social Media: What It Represents

Better Health — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:00:50 +0100

In a move that may represent a new level of social health organization within large institutions, the Mayo Clinic announced that it has launched The Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media. Mayo intends to “accelerate effective application of social media tools throughout Mayo Clinic and to spur broader and deeper engagement in social media by hospitals, medical professionals and patients to improve health globally.” Look for more information in Mayo’s press release which is diplomatically vague while at the same time lofty and enticing. So what does this really mean? The Mayo Clinic recognizes opportunity. The opportunity to formally offer comprehensive social media training to hospitals and medical schools is huge. The Mayo Clinic can and should leverage what they’ve done both to the...

Physician Social Networks: Are Doctors Liable For What They Say?

Better Health — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:00:19 +0100

Last week I invited a local pediatrician to connect with me on a physician social network. I thought it would be cool to see how it might improve our ability to stay in touch and share information. In a return email she was enthusiastic, but qualified it by saying that she wouldn’t want to be held liable for anything she said. It raises an interesting concern: Can a physician be held accountable for rendering an opinion in a clinical scenario casually presented in a physician network? Water Cooler Risk The question of liability for casual dialog is interesting, but not a new question. Doctors have been talking for years. At lunch conferences, in hallways, and in surgical lounges -– the curbside is a way of life for all of us. Good physicians, after all, almost never work alone. (...

The Top Doctors On Twitter

Better Health — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:00:31 +0100

Twitter Doctors is a new site that lists and ranks all the doctors who are active on Twitter based on the number of followers, retweets, etc. Currently I’m in the top 5 (Twitter.com/Berci), and I hope to stay there for awhile. If you aren’t included in the list, tweet about the website and follow @dawson to be included. *This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll* (Source: Better Health)

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #28

Fox ePractice — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:49:14 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: yes Social Media in Health Care: Barriers and Future Trends This blog post discusses some of the foundation to the current expl...

The Weekly Scoop in Healthcare Social Media #27

Fox ePractice — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:42:40 +0100

At Fox ePractice we’re committed to providing you with everything you need to understand, position yourself, and to take advantage of the fundamental shift that is taking place in marketing a medical practice. To that end, each week this page will highlight some of the best content that we have come across on the web in order to further your knowledge of the opportunities before you. We will showcase both Healthcare Social Media experts who speak out on the subject, as well as those sites that demonstrate what we feel are healthy examples of how to put the concept of Web 2.0 to work for their healthcare businesses. So read on … and “get the scoop”: yes For Cardiologists: A Twitter Primer As the author states, this blog entry is “A crash course on Twitter”. A bri...

The case against Physician Nephews

Fox ePractice — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:00:24 +0100

It may be hard to believe or may even bring a smile to your face, but for our smallest medical practice clients one main competitor for our medical practice website design service is “the physician’s nephew”. That is at least what we call this group of people that sometimes includes a staff member’s daughter, or some neighbor’s son. We know this group’s strengths and weaknesses. We should, because many years ago, you could count me as one of them. The story usually goes like this. We have a client with a real need – they have no online presence and their reputation or online first impression is at the mercy of 3rd parties. After agreeing to what needs to be created, a solution where physician website design is only one of many building blocks, t...

What patients think of your static website

Fox ePractice — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 06:14:32 +0100

Who are you, my good Doctor? Static and closed VS. dynamic and sharing From growing up in Norway, located in the very northern part of Europe, I have always been fascinated with the strong cultural difference between the people of Southern Europe and Northern Europe. Most people consider us from the cold north to be more static, closed and harder to get to know, while the people of the warmer south are perceived to be much more dynamic, caring and easy to get to know. No social anthropology degree needed, just trust me. Relation to physician’s online presence, you may ask? I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to live in several different cultures and countries, from Europe and Asia, to now North America. However, I have found that with limited time ava...

7 Reasons Why Doctors Should Use LinkedIn

Better Health — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:00:22 +0100

I recently wrote about why doctors don’t use LinkedIn. While the post intended to break down why doctors weren’t inclined to use LinkedIn, I never meant to suggest that it can’t be helpful for practicing physicians. Enough people messaged me and commented that I feel I should address the issues of doctors and LinkedIn with a broader perspective. So how could LinkedIn be important for the average physician? 1. Dig your well before you’re thirsty. I remember reading Harvey Mackey’s book back in the day which suggested that you should always have options lined up in the event that things don’t work out. Times are definitely changing. Different practice environments and models of care may favor those with an unusual element to their background. The evolution of the healthcare env...

Evidence-Based Social Media In Medicine And Healthcare

Better Health — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:00:46 +0100

We report briefly on exploring this resource using Lyme disease as an example because it has well-described seasonal and geographic patterns. (more…) *This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll* (Source: Better Health)

Social Media Bill Of Rights?

Better Health — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:00:15 +0100

Should we have a Bill of Rights for social media sites? It’s something we need to consider as such software becomes an integral part of our daily communications. Some might say such a document isn’t needed, that we aught to take a buyer-beware approach. But I would argue that the core issue of the privacy threats of new media isn’t really privacy, but rather dignity. Having to go through fifty steps to set your privacy settings is undignified, even if your privacy is ensured. So if we value human dignity, we aught to consider standards of dignity. A Bill of Rights, even if unenforceable, may at least remind us of the disturbing force of social technologies. What’s your take? *This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann* (Source: Better Health)

iMedExchange: Social Media Power For Physicians

Better Health — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:51:38 +0100

If you’ve come to believe that physicians and social networks aren’t a good combination, check out this teaser from the up-and-coming physician network, iMedExchange. While facilitated physician networks have been a difficult sell, iMedExchange appears to be delivering a fresh, expandable, next-generation platform that will offer real value for discerning doctors. iMedExchange went into expanded beta beginning yesterday. If you were an iMed user before, watch your inbox and give it a test drive. Keep an eye on this one. I’ve had a look. It’s very nice and I understand the best is yet to come. *This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts* (Source: Better Health)

Epsilon study shows what online patients want

Nicola Ziady — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 04:42:45 +0100

Patients engage in healthcare social media for rational and emotional reasons. :: Emotional healthcare social media users want support from people who are going through a similar experience. :: Rational social media users are searching for information about their specific conditions and symptoms. “Our research shows that social media is a valuable forum for patients to discuss their health issues and concerns while connecting with others facing similar circumstances,” said Mark Miller, senior vice president, Epsilon Strategic & Analytic Consulting Group. “This participation provides reassurance and intimacy, and many of the individuals who are highly engaged in social media feel better equipped to manage their health.” (Source: Nicola Ziady)

Recent Readings On Social Media In Medicine

Better Health — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:47:31 +0100

Here are a few papers and publications focusing on how social media can be used in medicine, healthcare and science. These represent the evidence-based approach in social media: Google docs: a better method than a paper clinical schedule. Kippenbrock T, Holloway E, Moore DD. Comput Inform Nurs. 2010 May-Jun;28(3):138-40. How to get the most from the medical literature: keeping up to date in nephrology. Cullis J, Webster AC. Nephrology (Carlton). 2010 Apr;15(3):269-76. Twitter: consider the possibilities for continuing nursing education. Billings DM, Kowalski K, Bristol TJ. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2010 May;41(5):199-200. Literature search on risk factors for sarcoma: PubMed and Google Scholar may be complementary sources. Mastrangelo G, Fadda E, Rossi CR, Zamprogno E, Buja A, Cegolon L. BMC Res...