Social Media and Medicine

David Voran, MD

revolution?

Subtle but significant change in our customer/client/vendor expectations

Customers expect to be part of the decision making process

We expect an ongoing relationship with merchants, vendors, and will willingly share that relationship with our friends and strangers

Rising strength of the individual

Huge resources available to everyone to share anything anytime

Connect easily to others “cohorts”

Decisions now can be made by current and potential customers

Automobile manufacturers getting instantaneous feedback on potential colors, options, features and linking customer responses to CAD systems

New Dialog

Real World Dynamics

Two-way Commnications

Good example of comprehensive exploitation of Web 1.x and Web 2.0

MacArthur OB/Gyn in Iriving, TX

Portal with RSS, Twitter, Facebook connections to patients

Leveraged to maximize bi-directional general communications with patients

Heartland Clinic of Platte City

• Free Standing Clinic

• 30 miles south of St. Joseph

• Physicians

• 3.5 FTE (1.5 FP, 1 IM, 1 Peds)

Just Dipping Toes Into the Water

Types of Posts

• Twitter feeds• Clinic schedules• EMR status• Made very easy with Outlook tools

• Blogs• Eliciting responses• Don’t have enough time for these

and would like to see clinical marketing involved

• Retail services• Education in becoming customer

focused• Started as broadcast services now

becoming conversational

Physician Dependent

Physicians are key

If they don’t participate it won’t happen, or

... will happen around them and they won’t be able to benefit from the process

Hospital Joining in

Issues

Our organization, like most hospitals, hasn’t embraced social media as a core process

Blocks Facebook, Blogspot and other useful areas for people inside their network

• Security, risk management and productivity concerns

• SM requires frequent changes that potentially impact productivity

• Hard to track efficacy of SM posts

• Lack of integration with EMR

• Inability to charge for interactions

• Is being used primarily as a marketing tool

Developing Opinions

• EMR will eventually evolve to be more like a social media than current closed repository

• Empower patients and providers to reach out to other similar patients and providers to deliver collaborative care

• Grow beyond current boundaries and encompass “disease watershed” linking providers and patients within that biologic, rather than geographic boundary

• So it’s important to begin experimenting