HealthCare Social Media Review #17

The 17^th edition of HealthCare Social Media Review is available on Social QI. This edition is about building evidence for a future of open and connected health care.

Brian McGowan says, “Patients need other patients for support. Physicians need other physicians. Scientists need other scientists. And only when we have built systems to support sharing across these networks and we have adopted new skills to leverage collaborative models will we see real, meaningful improvement.”

Here are some highlights from this week’s edition:

• We learn another valuable lesson from Howard Luks in his post, “Twitter as a Lifeline: Lessons from Sandy”—a first-hand account of the impact of social media on his experiences and sanity throughout Superstorm Sandy.
• From Ken Walz, we learn about “Dealing with the Growing Power of ‘Medical Googlers.’“ “The internet has made sharing information easier, and caused empowered consumers to demand more from their doctors.” Walz says. “This new world isn’t going away, and medical innovators might be well-served to work closely with doctors—no matter the resistance—to encourage the use of information that separates hoof-beats from zebras.”
• Joseph Kvedar shows how this might all create something greater than the sum of the parts in his post, “Should Your Doctor Be Following You On Twitter?” He says, “…When we’re going about our daily lives, messaging about what we’re thinking or doing in-the-moment, these tweets can provide a more accurate picture and far more information of a person’s state than a series of routine questions.”
• Ronan Kavanagh writes about “Attending a medical meeting in my dressing gown.” “… this year I’ll be attending [a medical conference] virtually, in my dressing gown, from the comfort of my home office.”

See the entire edition of this week’s HCSM Review here. For details or information on submitting posts or hosting editions of the HCSM Review, please go to the HCSM Review main page.