Social Media: Barbara Ficarra on FOX News Live Talks About Medical Social Networking
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 21:21By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA
Social networking and health care
Part One
Medical Professionals are using social media, such as Facebook, Twitterand You Tube to engage patients in their health.
They are using it to provide accurate information to help educate patients and to help empower them to be proactive and take charge of their health.
I joined Dr. Marc Siegel, host of FOX NEWS to talk about how medical professionals and patients are using social networking.
Thank you to FOX NEWS for focusing on this hot topic. I’m grateful I was given the opportunity to talk briefly about social media and health care.
In Part Two I will write a Q&A on Social Media: Medical Social Networking. I will give examples of medical professionals and hospitals engaging in social media, useful health sites and online communities for patients and more.
Your turn
We would love to hear from both medical professionals and patients. How do you engage in social media? Patients, what communities do you use? Please share your experience with us.
As always, thank you for your time.
[Please note: I'd like to give proper credit to Gary Schwitzer's website mentioned in the clip - it is HealthNewsReview.org, an excellent resource for journalists and consumers.]
Social Media: Medical Social Networking – Part 2
Monday, March 7, 2011 18:10By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA
Medical Professionals Engaging in Social MediaA Comprehensive Guide
Part Two
I wish we had more time; the edited segment is 6 minutes and 17 seconds.
Social Media and Medical Professionals
In this post, “Social Media: Medical Social Networking – Part 2,” I give examples of medical professionals and hospitals engaging in social media, useful health sites and online communities for patients and more.
Below, I answer the questions:
- HOW ARE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO IMPROVE PATIENT CARE?
- ARE HOSPITALS EMBRACING SOCIAL MEDIA?
- WHY ARE PATIENTS SO RECEPTIVE TO SOCIAL MEDIA?
- WHY DO PATIENTS ENGAGE IN HEALTH COMMUNITIES AND WHAT KINDS OF COMMUNITIES ARE OUT THERE FOR PATIENTS LOOKING FOR SUPPORT?
- WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE FOR PATIENTS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THEIR HEALTH CARE?
Social Media is a powerful and phenomenal platform to educate patients. Social Media can help raise awareness of health issues and it offers a forum to collaborate and connect.
Social Media gives a voice to patients and it allows for the conversation to get started with their doctors and other health care professionals.
Health information is communicated in real-time and in a transparent style. Health Care is about the patient, the most important member of the health care team. Patients want accurate, trustworthy and transparent health information. Social media allows doctors and other health professionals to engage and share information.
Social Media is all about connection, collaboration, community, respect and patient engagement and empowerment.
Twitter offers an opportunity for doctors to provide instant feedback, faster than they can even from blogging. This can range from providing updates on surgery, which Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital has done, to giving opinions on the latest, breaking studies. Twitter can provide more transparency to what goes on in the physician’s world, and allow both patients and other doctors to interact with one another in a quick, convenient way. -Kevin Pho, MD
Q&A on Social Media: Medical Social Networking
HOW ARE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO IMPROVE PATIENT CARE?
Some medical professionals are using social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and Blogs to connect with patients to share trusted and accurate health information and to empower patients to be proactive in their health. Others use it to simply collaborate with colleagues by exchanging journal articles and some medical professionals use it to “brand” their practice or highlight their latest book.
There are outstanding doctors, nurses and other health professionals using social media.
To find out which doctors, nurses and other health professionals are using twitter you can find a comprehensive list of stellar health professionals at Mashableand OrganizedWisdom. From dermatologists to endocrinologists to nurses, life coaches to health IT experts to health communicators and patient advocates; OrganizedWisdom lists these great groups of professionals plus many others.
Additionally, Dr. Val Jones, founder of Better Health network highlights anoutstanding group of health professionals’ blogs.
Doctors, Nurses and Other Health Professionals (Only a few of the many outstanding medical professionals-in no particular order)-
Additionally, Sean Gardner (@2morrowknight), Joyce Cherrier (@JoyceCherrier) and Sung Lee (@Sung_H_Lee) are great folks who tweet and retweet about health.
ARE HOSPITALS EMBRACING SOCIAL MEDIA?
Doctors, nurses and other health professionals aren’t the only ones using social media, some hospitals are embracing this powerful platform.
Hospitals
PR firm Burson-Marsteller studied the 100 largest companies in the Fortune 500 list and found that 79% of them use Twitter, Facebook,YouTube or corporate blogs to communicate with customers and other stakeholders…Twitter is the most popular platform that the companies use; two-thirds of the Fortune 100 have at least one Twitter account. –Mashable
Big companies have a message to share and health care professionals can tap into what these fortune 500 companies are doing and learn from them. Medical professionals have a message to share as well—whether it’s sharing a blog post, communicating late breaking health news or simply sharing health information that can help improve lives or raise awareness; social media taps into the lightning fast world of real-time information.
If you’re wondering what hospitals are engaging in social media, Ed Bennett, web manager at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) complied acomprehensive list, the Hospital Social Network List.
U.S. Hospitals that use Social Networking tools updated on January 23, 2011
The list is comprised of 906 Hospitals in total:
- 448 YouTube Channels
- 719 Facebook pages
- 674 Twitter Accounts
- 439 LinkedIn Accounts
- 693 Four Square
- 106 Blogs
3,087 Hospital Social Networking Sites
It’s easy to find hospitals by state that use Twitter, Facebook, You Tube,Blogs, Linkedin, and Foursquare.
For example, since I’m located in New York, I’m curious about which hospitals engage in social networking. According to Bennett’s list, there are 95 hospitals that are on the cutting-edge using social media to engage their patients. 45 of those are on You Tube, 85 are on FaceBook, 52 are on Twitter, 66 are on Linkedin, 79 use Foursquare, and 5 of these hospitals have blogs. When you click “New York” you will come across the comprehensive list of hospitals engaging in social media. I am surprised that there are not more hospitals with blogs.
The main reason that hospitals are engaging in social networking is because “they are doing it for the same reason most organizations get involved in social media; a desire to stay connected with their audiences,” says Ed Bennett in an email response. He added, “For hospitals that includes patients, physicians, researchers, and other health care professionals. They are using it to exchange information, promote best practices and be responsive to any issues that may arise.”
Since social media is such a powerful platform for hospitals to share information, why are hospitals not engaging in social media? “The primary reason is resources,” said Bennett. “Most of the hospitals doing social media are larger facilities. They have the resources and communications staff to do a good job with social media.”
After reviewing the list of hospitals that engage in social media, I was surprised to find that many hospitals are not using blogs; “staff and resources are the main factor” said Bennett. “It takes time to write and manage a blog.” Bennett encourages hospitals to begin with the popular social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter since they are easier to start using. “But even a small presence is important. The public is seeking reliable health information, and hospitals are in a unique position to provide accurate guidance.”
WHY ARE PATIENTS SO RECEPTIVE TO SOCIAL MEDIA?
Patients are receptive to Social Media because today’s patients are smart and technology savvy.
Today’s patients are empowered and they are known as the “e-patient”— Dave deBronkart, (e-patient Dave) diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer quickly became engaged in the internet searching desperately for health information and support. He became an empowered and engaged patient surrounding himself with invaluable information and support.
Patients are using the internet to gather health information. In fact, in a Pew Internet Study, 60% of e-patients, access social media related to health.
Patients want a relationship with their doctors and health care providers. They don’t want to be told what to do; instead they want to work together with their providers to develop a plan that meets their needs.
I asked Dave about his experience as an e-patient. “I joined the online health communities and found affirmation that I was indeed at the right hospital, and I obtained firsthand experiences from other patients learning what they went through.” Enthusiastically and adamantly he said, “People search for information about everything else, why wouldn’t they search for health information to try to help themselves in a crisis.”
WHY DO PATIENTS ENGAGE IN HEALTH COMMUNITIES AND WHAT KINDS OF COMMUNITIES ARE OUT THERE FOR PATIENTS LOOKING FOR SUPPORT?
The reasons health consumers engage in health communities are simple.
They are looking for emotional and informational support. By engaging in online health communities many people find the emotional support they are looking for. They find reassurance from other people going through the same experience.
They can collaborate and share information. They gather health information from various sites to help them gain knowledge.
A couple communities are Inspire.com and PatientsLikeMe.com.
What does being part of the community at inspire.com achieve for patients? “We surveyed our members and asked them what they most value from participating in Inspire,” said Brian Loew, CEO and co-founder. “The two leading answers were almost a tie. The first is emotional support members provide one another, and the second is practical support regarding how to deal with aspects of their condition.”
Let us know what health communities you engage in. Share your insightful thoughts in the comment section below.
WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE FOR PATIENTS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THEIR HEALTH CARE?
The best advice for patients is to be proactive in their health. It’s important to be an empowered patient and to always take charge of your health.
Communication is critical.
Patients need to have a good relationship with their doctors and other health care providers. They need to speak up and ask questions.
By searching online for health information, reading blogs from outstanding medical professionals, being part of patient online communities; can aid in helping patients learn the right questions to ask and to get the answers they need.
Be smart and savvy and be empowered—do your homework—research accurate and trusted sites—gather health information and talk to your doctor.
Social Media gives patients a voice and helps get the conversation started.
Bottom line
It’s important for doctors, nurses and other health professionals to understand that Google, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, health news and information sites and online patient community sites will not replace them. It’s simply a tool that offers additional information, and it allows the conversation to get started between health provider and patient. Doctors, nurses and other health providers need to engage in social media platforms to help educate the health consumer.
They have the power to provide accurate, reliable and truthful information. They should not shun away from the internet but embrace it and join forces with the health consumer. Partnering together is a very useful since patient empowerment and patient engagement is essential in the doctor/nurse–patient relationship.
Social Media starts the conversation, but face-to-face communication with your doctors and other health care professionals remains paramount.
If you’re still unsure about embracing social media, Phil Baumann offers a widespread list for the 140 health care uses for Twitter.
Helpful Sites for Medical Professionals and Hospitals:
A few trusted sites:
- Better Health
- Cleveland Clinic
- CDC
- Dr. Greene
- Health Commentary
- Health Tech Today
- HealthNewsReview.org
- Inspire
- Kevin MD
- Kinetics
- Mayo Clinic
- MedlinePlus
- OrganizedWisdom
- PatientsLikeMe
- Sharecare
- The Health Care Blog
Your turn
We would love to hear from you. Please share your insightful thoughts in the comment section below. If you’re a medical professional, are you embracing social media?
Health Consumers and patients, how do you engage in social networking? Is it helpful?
—
[Side note: The names mentioned above are only a few of the many wonder medical and health professionals engaged in social media.]
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