I frequently hear the term online doctor. When I hear it I have to wonder if there are offline doctors in contrast? Increasingly our networks are moving digital. Most docs use FB. Twitter use is in line with the general population. And it's hard to believe that there's any doctor who doesn't consume information from the web. I suspect that at some level we're ... Continue Reading about Online Doctors
How I Avoid Filter Failure on Twitter
I unfollowed an old friend on Twitter recently. A person with some good things to say. Recently he had taken to repeatedly pushing his personal agenda down my throat. I got tired of it. So I voted with my cursor. I love the folks I follow. I love the different stuff they bring. I love to know where they stand. That’s why I chose to follow them. I avoid ... Continue Reading about How I Avoid Filter Failure on Twitter
Where Does a Doctor Meet a Patient’s Real Needs?
I woke up this morning and found this comment in my Twitter feed. It was part of a conversation thread surrounding doctors and Twitter. "Surgeon spouse is far too busy considering patients' real needs to even think about creating a Twitter presence" So what are a patient's real needs? This depends on time and place. Sometimes it involves the laying on of hands or ... Continue Reading about Where Does a Doctor Meet a Patient’s Real Needs?
Hashtag Micromanagement
Ryan Madanick recently took the initiative to propose a new hashtag for social media and medicine, #medsm. You can read his ideas on the initiative over at Gut Check. I suspect that the tag will make sense for those interested in medicine and social media. I rarely use #hcsm because my tweets rarely involve health care communication. There's been criticism ... Continue Reading about Hashtag Micromanagement
The Social Health Correction
I can't help but wonder if we're in the midst of a social health correction - a readjustment of expectations and beliefs about the near-term potential of social media to revolutionize health. I suspect that this achieved peak trajectory around 2009. The conversations were heady - Twitter would fix our problems. Facebook would revolutionize how doctors communicate ... Continue Reading about The Social Health Correction
When Doctors Monkey Around
When I talk about social media I usually describe my earliest entree in to Twitter as 'monkeying around.' An innocent flirtation with no real endpoint. The point is that I didn't know what it was or how I might use it, but I was curious. Recently a skeptical physician-friend approached me after a talk and said with a smirk, "So that's what you do on Twitter, you ... Continue Reading about When Doctors Monkey Around