It took me most of 2010 to weight up the pros and cons of starting a blog.
I already have a busy, well-established rheumatology practice and our clinic has grown steadily through word-of-mouth. There’s also always enough jobs on the to-do list without adding another regular task. Is it worth the risk? What is the risk?
In my first blog, I’ve tried to explain why I ended up agreeing to do this. …
Social media fears doctors face
Once a provider realizes the increasing importance of building and managing their online reputation, they need some practical tools and steps. Bear in mind, I am writing this, not for the small percentage of physicians already active with social media, but rather for those of you giving it consideration and looking for some …
Social media helps doctors manage their online reputation
Now I am going to confess my bias – I am fast becoming a Facebook junkie! As an entrepreneurial physician who has to keep feeding and nurturing a business, I sense Facebook’s huge potential and I’m eager to learn how to participate effectively in this brave new world.
Both Twitter (an instantaneous but fleeting stream of chatter mixed in with pointers to valuable resources) and LinkedIn (a searchable Rolodex on steroids) …
Facebook Page or Facebook Profile, what doctors need to know
AMA Policy – Professionalism in the Use of Social Media.
This was posted recently and it is a good piece of work that will promote physician (and patient) discussion about the professional role and use of social media.
I applaud the American Medical Association (of which I am not currently a member, but I am a member of Medical Society of District of Columbia) for recognizing that physicians are engaging in this …
Social media AMA physician professionalism policy
February 2010 was a fortuitous month for me. My website went live, and I met Ed Bennett.
Ed is director of web strategy at the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS). Lucky for UMMS. In his more than 15 years working on the internet, Ed’s been programmer, designer, consultant, information architect, start-up participant. Since 1999, Ed has led the UMMS web strategy building out large (50,000 page) content-rich …
Social media is as important as the web itself
I am going to explain a bit about why physicians should care about online reputation management (ORM).
As the online world becomes more pervasive, reputations are increasingly built and managed on the Internet. Online Reputation Management is the process of monitoring, addressing or mitigating SERPs (search engine result pages) or mentions in online and …
Why physicians should care about online reputation management
by Walter van den Broek, MD, PhD
In normal every day life with face to face contact, the physical characteristics and knowledge about social background form the identity of your contact.
It’s stable and three dimensional. You know that person, it’s therefor very difficult for the other to claim another identity or create impressions inconsistent with how you know him or her. Online identity is a different …
Facebook, narcissism and low self esteem
I’m back from my whirlwind trip to Las Vegas, and I want to think those who followed our panel at BlogWorld 2010.
I was joined by Bryan Vartabedian of 33 Charts, and Kerri Morrone Sparling of six until me in a panel moderated by Kim McAllister of Emergiblog.
A few thoughts from my end.
Photos …
Are social networks competitive or compatible with the medical blogosphere?
If you’re a health care professional, chances are you know a bit about social media, possibly feel compelled to use it sometimes and you might actually be participating in the Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/blog revolution.
But there can be real problems in using social media in the health care context. Whether you are in private practice or work for a group of large hospital network, social media mistakes can be costly in terms of …
7 social media mistakes made in health care
Some people are disappointed at the latest FDA notice to Novartis over a Facebook button on one of their website pages.
The key question that a lot of people fail to ask is “do patients want to have a conversation with a drug company?” From almost one year of qualitative and quantitative research plus other 3rd party research (i.e. Rodale DTC Study) the answer to that is “no.”
Now before you get …
Is pharma providing relevant social media web content?
Speaking to the senior staff of the National Library of Medicine recently was like going before the best kind of murder board.
Picture it: 30 of the nation’s smartest health information mavens around a polished conference room table, asking me sharp questions, suggesting new lines of inquiry, and offering their own insights. In other words, heaven.
Our jumping-off point was the Pew Internet Project’s latest research on internet penetration, mobile use, and …
Chronic disease and using social media for health
Email, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Delicious, Digg, LinkedIn, blogs (of course), and scores of others—all part of the new and wonderful ways we can now connect with one another electronically, each with its own culture and unique set of rules.
In one sense, the planet has never been more interconnected. And yet, this interconnectedness, while wonderful, hasn’t come without cost.
Isolation
Much has been written about the dangers of Internet addiction. From pornography …
Costs of communication on email, Facebook and Twitter
by Kristina Fiore
Websites that encourage teens to continue in their eating disorders tend to do so via “thinspiration” — a combination of images and prose that drive the viewer toward continued weight loss, researchers say.
About 85% of these sites provide thinspirational photos (or “thinspo”) of ultrathin women and oaths to “Ana” or “Mia” — nicknames for anorexia and bulimia — according to Dina L.G. Borzekowski, EdD, of Johns Hopkins, and …
Thinspiration and pro-ana sites perpetuate eating disorders
ADVERTISEMENT
My friend and colleague Katherine Chretien has a provocative op-ed in USA Today entitled, “A doctor’s request: Please don’t ‘friend’ me,” which asks the question whether doctors and patients should interact in social networking sites such as Facebook.
Social networking has huge potential in health care regarding the sharing of information and ideas, and could possibly even enhance communication between doctors and patients. However, as Dr. Chretien points out, many …
Facebook friend issues between doctor and patient
In May, I spoke at the Chronic Care and Prevention Congress about my most recent report, “Chronic Disease and the Internet.”
I talked about the social life of health information and the internet’s power to connect people with information and with each other. Living with chronic disease is associated with being offline – no surprise. What’s amazing and new is our finding that if someone can get access to the internet, …
Drug chains and the advice of online patient communities
by Cole Petrochko
Last week, I was sick, the kind of sick where you’re not well enough to leave the house and be productive, but not sick enough to successfully sniffle in bed and subsist entirely on chicken soup and the wishes of family. My existence during that time could have been summarized as, “Periodic bouts of achy consciousness followed by extended fever dreams about King of the Hill characters.”
Most of …
How TV promotes sugary cereals to kids during cartoons
In Boston we took the availability and quality of our tap water for granted until May 1, 2010, when a major water pipe break interrupted water service to two million Greater Boston residents.
Information spread quickly to citizens about the problem and what to do, all the more notable because the water main break occurred on a Saturday. In this age of consumer paranoia about withheld information, the Massachusetts Water Resources …
Social media in crisis management and public health emergencies
“I would be careful,” a fellow physician cautioned, as I told of my plans to attend a patient’s birthday party.
In my 12 years of clinical practice I have lived in the community in which I practice, less than two miles from my office. I encounter patients daily in the supermarket, at soccer games, swim meets and school events. I have had conversations with patients at parties, on the street, and …
Twitter and Facebook can affect the doctor-patient relationship
Should you friend your doctor on Facebook?
It’s a question that’s gaining increasing relevance as Facebook increases its social networking dominance.
I’ve touched upon the issue in the past. So has the New England Journal of Medicine.
Washington, DC physician Katherine Chretian gives her take on the issue in a recent USA Today op-ed. She is an expert of the Facebook-medicine intersection, having authored a JAMA study on the …
Facebook friends with patients can violate HIPAA privacy laws
I’d like to thank various media outlets for recently citing KevinMD.com.
ABC News: How long will you wait to see a doctor?
While coverage is expected to extend to between 31 and 35 million Americans without insurance currently, a shortage of primary care doctors may mean extended wait times to actually see a doctor — if new patients can get in at all …
… “That situation, extrapolated to the rest of …
KevinMD.com in the Los Angeles Times, ABC News, and recent media mentions
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
