How Doctors Are Using Social Media to Connect With Patients

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I am a healthcare marketing firm that serves both doctors and hospitals, and we have watched this trend grow for the past several years. Despite the polarized opinions we see out there, social media is neither a panacea nor inherently evil. A few practice specialties tend to get more traction than others. It is easy for "consumer direct" specialties like orthodontists, LASIK ophthalmologists, OB/GYNs and others to get interest. Others, like urologists or colo-rectal surgery generally will not. However, the personality of the doctor(s) and practice to a large extent define how involved they will become with social media. It is important to note that few practices generate many new patients with it, so those who are looking for that benefit are usually disappointed. Finally, for those doctors on the fence, Mayo Clinic is probably the #1 social media machine in healthcare. We blog on this topic fairly regularly, so if you are looking for more, Google Healthcare Success Strategies and sign up for our newsletter.

Stewart Gandolf of CA 12:43PM March 05, 2012

my classmate's sister-in-law makes $84 hourly on the laptop. She has been fired for 7 months but last month her income was $9078 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Go to this site N u t t y R i c h . ?'('?)M

SilvaChristina860608491 of WA 1:53AM March 01, 2012

Of course Facebook triggers patient privacy concerns.

Precisely for this reason - we are launching Pathcare - a private social network in a box for social savvy doctors. Pathcare provides a personal private social network for a physician to help capture the physiological and emotional context of their patients with less effort.

Pathcare allows patient-mediated input of data, making the clinical data more accurate and complete and boosting the trust between clinical care team and patient. The Pathcare private social network enable physicians to:

Follow critical events on a timeline (for example blood pressure, dizziness etc) that enables the doctor to respond in a timely fashion.

Reconcile differences between what was ordered and what the patient did.

Granular access control for sharing of data between physician, patient and referrals.

Tagging and free text searching subject to the access control rights

Private communications without exposure to email spam and malicious content.

Danny Lieberman 10:46AM February 28, 2012

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boano of KY 5:58PM November 29, 2011

I'm an Ob/Gyn with a current passion for the use of social media for patient educaion. The experience of 'visiting the doctor' can be scary and anxiety-provoking for many people...often times leaving one with questions that may go unanswered. I'm using Facebook and Twitter to post answers to common patient questions that do come up in the office, nearly everyday. My intension is to be a medically sound voice, discussing common concerns in the area of Women's Reproductive Health...and to offer information and networking in a fun, interactive and modern way! (Not to serve/replace appropriate medical consultation.)

drsuzyyhall

http://www.facebook.com/drsuzyyhall

http://www.twitter.com/drsuzyyhall

http://www.fb.me/17TnSBPHZ

drsuzyyhall of MI 2:19PM November 27, 2011

Hi Angela,

As far as private practice and social media is concerned, Dr. Pho's site actually has a great testimonial from a Dr. Natasha Burgert. I'll link it here for your readers' benefit.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/08/social-media-changed-medical-practice.html

Dr. Howard Luks also makes some great points about physician presence on social media at this article on Ragan Health Communications

http://www.healthcarecommunication.com/Main/Articles/5_social_media_questions_for_Dr_Howard_Luks_7785.aspx

Cheers

Jason Boies

Radian6 Community Engagement Team

http://www.radian6.com/

Jason Boies 1:42PM November 21, 2011

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