Physicians writing on KevinMD about being a physician in public: professional presence online, patient privacy, online reviews and reputation, medical misinformation, and how clinicians use social platforms to teach, advocate, and connect. KevinMD itself has been a case study in this since 2004.

Online physician professionalism, a medical student opinion

Social Media in Medicine
June 7, 2011

Recently we saw a flurry of discussions about online physician professionalism, the merits of being anonymous, and teachable moments. As a newbie I’m trying to figure this out. But I need to be more mindful of the filter bubble – a self-imposed bias by preferentially linking to people and things we agree with, thus unwittingly trivializing reasonable alternatives.

I’ve just had 3 “Uh-oh” moments:

  1. Right after the #hcsm …

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Online physician professionalism, a medical student opinion

7 tips to avoid HIPAA violations in social media

Social Media in Medicine
June 6, 2011

There have been a couple of widely-publicized cases recently of physicians divulging patient information in social media. I’m sure the doctors involved did not intend to violate patient privacy.

While there are several excellent guidelines and policies on this topic, there isn’t a whole lot of practical advice, so here are my tips to help you avoid privacy violations (I hope this is the beginning of a conversation …

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7 tips to avoid HIPAA violations in social media

How tagged Facebook pictures can affect a doctor’s online reputation

Social Media in Medicine
May 6, 2011

I’ve read a number of recent articles on social media and medical professionalism. The post in the New York Times about physicians and Facebook prompted me to think about my own presence online.

Dr. Ryan Greysen, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation clinical scholar at Yale School of Medicine, says he is concerned about the professionalism of “the new generation of physicians and …

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How tagged Facebook pictures can affect a doctor’s online reputation

Creating and sharing great content builds authority for your brand

Social Media in Medicine
May 5, 2011

Content drives conversations. Conversation engages your customers.

Engaging with people is how your company will survive and thrive in this newly social world. In other words, online content is a powerful envoy for your business, with an ability to stir up interest, further engagement, and invite connections.  Why hasn’t the healthcare industry focused more on better content that drives engagement and creates trust?

Creating and sharing relevant, valuable information that attracts people …

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Creating and sharing great content builds authority for your brand

How Twitter changed the life of this physician executive consultant

Social Media in Medicine
May 2, 2011

Every morning at 5:30 AM, I am at my computer scouring the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and other news sources for articles about health care and wellness.

These articles are then summarized in 140 characters with a link to the original article and tweeted. As of today there are 3700 followers of my informal aggregated health care news service, and I hear about it if …

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How Twitter changed the life of this physician executive consultant

Integrating social media into everyday health care

Social Media in Medicine
April 22, 2011

The desire to be touched by and connected with others is among our most primal and, until recently, our most untapped qualities.

There have always been powerful signs of it. Those of us who remember exchanging letters with distant friends and family know the palpable anticipation when a letter arrived.

Years ago I visited the senior center at Pan American Hospital in Miami, an institution beloved by the “abuelos” (grandparents), mostly elderly …

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Integrating social media into everyday health care

Using social networks to help patients quit smoking

Social Media in Medicine
April 14, 2011

David C. Kibbe and Joseph C. Kvedar’s article, “Building a Research Agenda for Participatory Medicine” highlighted two of their “ready-to-go” research questions:

  • What is the role of coaching in sparking and supporting increased participation over time?
  • What can we learn from research on how social norms shape behavior—with the idea of developing hypotheses on whether social networks could serve as a coaching tool?

Recently, the Legacy Foundation’s Schroeder Institute focused …

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Using social networks to help patients quit smoking

How social media will change mental health care

Social Media in Medicine
March 31, 2011

Social media is changing how we communicate and how we define  “relationship.” I was speaking to someone last week who said to me, “Social media isn’t coming it’s here!” He’s right.

And while many voices in our professional communities are wary about social media, I see positive opportunities at every turn. Here are just 5 ways social media will change …

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How social media will change mental health care

Using Facebook, Twitter and other social media to change health care

Social Media in Medicine
March 10, 2011

Ten years on, Ian Morrison’s “Hamster Health Care: Time to Stop Running Faster and Redesign Health Care” is still eminently applicable.

In his words:

Across the globe doctors are miserable because they feel like hamsters on a treadmill. They must run faster just to stand still. In … the managed care systems in the United States doctors feel that they have to see more patients to maintain their incomes. But systems …

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Using Facebook, Twitter and other social media to change health care

Social media strategy at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)

Social Media in Medicine
March 9, 2011

Mike Morrison tweets for Massachusetts General Hospital as @MassGeneralNews and for Massachusetts General Hospital for Children as @MGHfC.

I met Mike when I tweeted about the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine including @MassGeneralNews in my tweet and Mike immediately followed me.

I contacted him to find out what his strategy is for Twitter use and what the benefits have been.

Lisa: Let’s …

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Social media strategy at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)

Social marketing strategies and tactics in hospitals

Social Media in Medicine
February 16, 2011

by Daphne Swancutt

Last year, I was part of a group judging hospital and healthcare organization marketing campaigns for a national awards program.

I left disgruntled. Not because of the experience itself. The coordinators were great; the other judges were thoughtful, thorough and serious about their roles. There was a nice camaraderie.

But the work we were judging was predictable and unmemorable. For me, at the center of “why” were three …

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Social marketing strategies and tactics in hospitals

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Why the CME community is lacking in its use of social media

Social Media in Medicine
February 7, 2011

Both the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPAC), as well as the stimulus bill from last year included funding, which focused on the use of health information technology (HIT) and electronic health records (EHRs). These initiatives are aimed at getting health care providers and entities to begin using information technology to improve the quality, efficiency, and delivery of care to patients.

Along the same lines as using HIT, a recent article …

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Why the CME community is lacking in its use of social media

Teenage patients are answering medical questions on Yahoo! Answers

Social Media in Medicine
February 7, 2011

by Lorelei Armstrong

Doctors debate whether patients Googling symptoms is a good thing or a bad thing. I bet you haven’t thought about something that might be worse:  your teenage patients are answering one another’s medical questions on Yahoo! Answers.

They’re not always clear on anatomy and terminology:  “How can I tell if I’m circumcised?” and “What’s the best way to shave my vagina?” and “Where is the female prostate located?”

They are …

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Teenage patients are answering medical questions on Yahoo! Answers

Physician blogs, doctors on Twitter and a malpractice trial

Social Media in Medicine
January 31, 2011

You are in the middle of a deposition.

Plaintiff’s lawyer asks, “Do you blog or tweet?” Before you answer, consider this. If you blog or tweet and respond in the affirmative, I believe anything you have ever posted would be subject to discovery by the plaintiff. Oh, you post anonymously? Would you then lie under oath and say you do not blog or tweet? For many physicians, admitting that you blog …

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Physician blogs, doctors on Twitter and a malpractice trial

Social media should be embraced by health care

Social Media in Medicine
January 29, 2011

The intersection of social media and privacy has made an older generation, and even some of my own generation, incredibly uncomfortable. There is talk of present and future consequences. Lost jobs, lost income, civil judgments, loss of respect/embarrassment, even criminal penalties for all that you put online. There is an idea that the blurring of intimate boundaries will come back and bite a whole generation.

Being online has responsibilities and consequences, …

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Social media should be embraced by health care

A simple social media plan any health care professional can use

Social Media in Medicine
January 24, 2011

If you listen to the discussions in health care circles about social media, you get the idea that social media is complicated, time consuming and a liability nightmare.

Nah.

It’s not that hard and can actually be quite simple if you consider your options carefully and logically.

Let’s look at a simple social media plan any health care professional can use.

If you’re even considering using social media to market or connect with current …

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A simple social media plan any health care professional can use

Quora in health and medicine, what doctors and nurses need to know

Social Media in Medicine
January 17, 2011

by Phil Baumann, RN

What assets do physicians nurse practitioners have which they can share online? It’s knowledge.

With today’s technologies, medicine and nursing care online are obviously limited – perhaps in the future we’ll have technologies which more robustly extend traditional care.

When patients seek information online, they’re usually looking for answers to questions. Now they may be seeking answers from different sources, but if they could find …

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Quora in health and medicine, what doctors and nurses need to know

Blogs encouraging suicides in the gay community

Social Media in Medicine
January 13, 2011

Are reblogs encouraging suicides in the gay community?

Recently, we’ve seen numerous young gay people take their lives. Tumblr went purple and spread the word with 29,294 reblogs. The photo above has 17,300 reblogs. Obama even made an “It gets better” video with 704,000 views.

Is the blogosphere contributing and encouraging this recent suicide epidemic? Are we reblogging the stories of these “martyrs” without actually thinking about what we’re doing in …

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Blogs encouraging suicides in the gay community

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