Social media is a great way to reach patients and potential patients—it is free or low cost, it enables you to connect with people, and it can build your hospital or practice brand. But you have to use it wisely. A recent article from HealthLeaders Media, “4 Social Media Strategies to Build Patient Loyalty”, focused on [...]
It has been a year since the launch of Doximity, an online social network for physicians. The site aims to help physicians across the country connect with one another. On the site, you can:
Exchange HIPAA-secure messages and images via text and fax
Network with colleagues and share phone lists, back lines and pagers
Talk about the latest [...]
We’re glad that there are physicians brave enough to enter the world of social media. If done well, physician use of social media can empower patients with accurate health information, improve relationships between patients and physicians, and, most importantly, help prevent the spread of false health information online. Not to mention, it can be a [...]
When the swine flu first came on the scene, the social media world was all a-Twitter. Tweets about the swine flu skyrocketed and, in fact, were at their highest when reported cases of the flu were at their lowest. This could be interpreted that Twitter is useless when it comes to tracking disease (although clearly [...]
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons expects knee replacements to jump by more than 600% by 2030. With the aging population and better technology, shoulder and ankle replacements are also increasing.
And aging boomers not only are getting more surgeries, but because of the information-loaded Internet, they are showing up more informed about possibilities than ever before. And [...]
As a doctor, you need and want to be aware of your patients’ health concerns. And if you are a pediatrician, we’re sure you’ve encountered countless parents who are concerned about the safety and side effects of vaccines. But perhaps you don’t know just how afraid some of these parents may be — evidenced by [...]
According to QuantiaMD and CareContinuum Alliance’s September 2011 report, “Doctors, Patients & Social Media,” only 11% of physicians surveyed were familiar with one or more online patient communities. (I recently wrote more about this report and how physicians are keeping up with social media growth.) However, of those 11%, 2 out of 3 believe these [...]
I previously wrote about the increasing use of social media for emergency response, as well as the use of social media to track down a Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak at the Playboy mansion. It’s no secret that social media is growing, and the potential applications to health are tracking right along with it.
So are doctors keeping [...]
The Pew Research Center tracked patient use of the Internet over the past 10 years, and according to a recent report, peer-to-peer sharing about healthcare is going to change how people make health decisions. Dr. Susannah Fox, associate director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, compares it to the way peer-to-peer [...]
We’re guessing that when someone asks you as a healthcare professional for your number one piece of health advice, it probably would involve getting to and maintaining a healthy weight. Since we keep hearing about the obesity epidemic in the U.S., weight loss could go a long way to improve the country’s health overall. But how can you help [...]
