Following their tech-savvy patients who are increasingly turning to social media for health advice, doctors are embracing social media platforms to share their expertise and stay current with the latest medical news.
Studies that compare the number of physicians engaged in social media differ, but more than 1,200 hospitals participate in 4,200 social networking sites including Facebook, twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, foursquare and blogs, and more than 60 percent of US physicians surveyed participate in social media and online physician communities, according to a study conducted by the PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute.
Some of the most recognizable physician voices in social media are Kevin Pho, a general practitioner from New Hampshire and Howard Luks, an orthopedic surgeon from Hawthorne, N.Y. Both Pho and Luks consistently top lists of social media advocates who preach the value of doctors establishing a digital footprint.
Luks said his participation in social media was a natural progression from his social personality that allows him to expand his outreach to patients, colleagues and health care consumers.
“Social media elevates patient and physician access to information to a level never seen before,” Luks said. “Physicians need to understand that patients are thirsty for knowledge. The more informed a patient is, the healthier they are going to be.
“Those of us who have been in practice for 10-to-20-plus years have an amazing repository of knowledge, and we have an obligation to share that knowledge,” Luks said. “There is a lot of commercial nonsense and a harmful information out there. We have it within our power to level the playing field in access to reliable, accurate information.”
Pho’s interest in social media grew from the success of his website, KevinMD.com, which he launched in 2004. While KevinMD continues to be an active and valuable resource on how to integrate social media into a medical practice, Pho says social media platforms allow doctors to reach more people and give feedback in real time.
“Twitter is s great way to break news and give your perspective to help patients understand what is happening in health care,” Pho said. “More than 65 percent of the public uses social networks, and eight out of 10 internet uses seek information online – that’s where patients are, so doctors need to have an online presence as well.”
Pho said his blog and tweets aren’t directly connected to his practice, but he has seen indirect benefits from what he reads on social media and the feedback on his posts.
“I read a lot of patient and physician blogs and hear their frustrations about waiting in offices, or waiting for test results or not understanding test results, so I have made changes in my practice to improve the patient experience based on what I have read.”
Beyond connecting with patients, Pho says doctors can use social media to steer patients toward reliable medical information online as well as beneficial patient communities.
“I advise patients to be as educated as possible, and I never advise self-treatment based on what you read on the internet because there is a lot of inaccurate info out there, and it can be dangerous if interpreted incorrectly,” Pho said. “Our job is to help patients find reputable sources.
“Many patients talk about the benefit of sharing their stories with others online, saying it can be empowering and cathartic,” Pho said. “As a physician, you can identify the symptoms and understand the patient’s disease from a medical perspective, but you can’t always personally relate. For example, I don’t have diabetes, so I don’t personally know what it feels like. Online patient communities allow patients to get another perspective from fellow patients that they can’t get in the exam room.”
Luks, who integrates twitter, Facebook, blogs and YouTube videos on his site, says social media has not only brought new patients to his practice, but it has helped enhance the doctor-patient relationship before patients set foot in the office door.
“Patients see the videos of me sitting at my desk and they come in for the first time without those first nerve-wracking minutes,” Luks said. “They know my style, my tone and my communication style and we quickly establish trust. It makes a much more efficient first visit.”
Despite the growing popularity of social media among doctors, there are still naysayers who are more concerned about the risks than rewards these platforms can offer.
“Many doctors are reluctant to use social media simply because they are busy seeing patients and they see social media as just one more thing to do,” Pho said. “So many headlines portray the negative aspects of social media use like doctors getting fired for violating patient privacy, so many doctors just shy away from social media altogether. But I try to educate doctors about boundaries and online professionalism to dispel those misconceptions and frame it in a more positive way to show the value and how social media helps us better connect to patients and colleagues and stay in touch with changes in health care.”
Luks agrees, saying doctors have to practice the utmost care in what they post, especially to twitter.
“You have to be very careful about respecting patient privacy and exercise the same caution when you hit the enter key as you would in the office,” Luks said. “Once it’s on the internet, it’s out there forever. You have no idea how powerful those 140 characters can be and how many lives they can reach. It’s unbelievably eye-opening and humbling.”
Follow Pho at @kevinmd and Luks at @hjluks.
– Elise Rambaud Marrion
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