Diana Manos, Senior Editor
Diana Manos is Senior Editor for Healthcare IT News. Located in Washington, D.C., she covers policy and legislation issues surrounding healthcare IT. Follow Diana on Twitter @DManos_IT_News.
What providers in other countries can teach the U.S. about social media
FALLS CHURCH, VA | April 23, 2012
Early adopters of social media in foreign countries have shown that it can improve communications, information sharing, clinical outcomes and speed of innovation, according to researchers at CSC.
Caitlin Lorincz, a researcher analyst at CSC, said the recent study of foreign healthcare organizations’ social media use found that many providers have expanded past the typical use for establishing a brand. They are using it for educating patients and sharing information between healthcare professionals.
[See also: Social media for healthcare providers: without it, 'you don't exist'.]
“There’s a lot we can learn from our global peers,” says Lorincz. For instance, in some other countries, there less competition to acquire patients; social media in those countries is more focused on care management and patient education.
One example is Rabound Academic Medical Center in the Netherlands. It launched its own online community to specifically serve their young adult cancer patients in 2009. The center's research indicates that the community has had a positive impact on the population. The hospital has seen fewer unscheduled hospital visits and higher levels of patient satisfaction. “The site connects and encourages patients to interact, share feelings, information and knowledge,” Lorincz says. “Their findings have shown that patients are more educated and more confident.”
According to Lorincz, in the United Kingdom, there is a site called “How Are You” that's similar to Facebook. It is a patient portal with social networking features. Patients provide updates about how they’re feeling. The patient’s caregivers and doctors can take action and check in on that patient.
[See also: Social media guide provides docs with 15 step game plan.]
In New Zealand, a nurse who operates a sexual health clinic for young adults uses social media to share health education and wellness tips on Facebook. She also uses her Facebook page to provide educational information, and to keep in touch with patients, who often move around frequently, Lorincz says.
“What we really thought was interesting from our study is that social media is a great way to engage patients,” says Lorincz. The U.S. is facing big challenges on how to motivate and educate patients to take care of their health. Social media could be one of the ways, she adds.
Read or download the full CSC report here: “Should Healthcare Organizations Use Social Media.”
Follow Diana Manos on Twitter @DManos_IT_News.
pjcasey75 say: Healthcare Specific Social Medium
What is needed in the U.S. is a social medium which does two things: First, it provides a highly secure environment controlled by the patient (i.e., you decide what providers, hospitals, insurers, family members, etc. are "friended") and; Second, it automatically uploads EHR data (including provider's notes, clinical summaries, med lists, etc. - not just uninterpreted test results, images, etc.) from any provider engaged in the patient's care. Such a personal medical record would dramatically increase patient engagement in their own healthcare, would serve as a common HIE space for coordinated care and would reduce redundant tests and uncoordinated (one to one rather than one to all) communications between healthcare stakeholders.
The question is, who pays and who controls it? As always, "simple" ideas perish in the details of implementation. The technology is there (or quickly on its way), but the problem remains in the economics and (especially) in the politics of governance.
I suggest that since the insurance industry is a major beneficiary of EHR and HIE adoption in terms of reduced transaction and processing costs, they foot their share of the enormous and ever rising healthcare bill instead of simply posting year over year record profits at our collective and clearly unsustainable expense. Lest I appear as simply critical of insurers, I also believe that they could truly and positively contribute substantial expertise in this area if they were so inclined, and would do well towards improving their image while maintaining a sizable profit margin by doing so.