My beef with social health is that most who take part spend most of their time speaking only with one another.  Last year at Blog World Expo during dinner with a group of health bloggers I sheepishly confessed that I had sneaked out of the health track to hear Steve Rubel speak.  None of them had ever heard of Steve Rubel.  And after hearing who he was they couldn’t understand what I could learn from him.

This is unfortunate.  Innovation in health will come from outside the health silo.  Many of the problems we face as physicians, patients and health administrators have been tackled in the financial and consumer industry, for example.  Operating rooms have even learned efficiency from the Formula One Pit Crew.

Today at the Blog World Expo Social Health Track we are reaching outside the silo with the help of speakers like David Armano and Frank Eliason.  I might suggest that in the future the dialog surrounding social health involve social media thought leaders from other verticals.  This is how we will grow.  There’s evidence of change at this year’s meeting but we have a long way to go.

Thanks our sponsors at Blog World Expo Social Health track:  Johnson & Johnson, MedPage Today, Wego, and Alliance Health Network.