Diagnosing why doctors use social media requires more than a one-size-fits-all prescription, Ellerin Health Media founder Bunny Ellerin found while writing her recently released white paper “The Social Physician.”
In the paper, Ellerin interviewed 10 physicians with varying specialties from across the country — conversations that may go a long way toward debunking the prevailing theory that the majority of doctors remain staggeringly behind when it comes to social media.
“People who market to doctors have a lot of preconceived notions that just aren’t correct,” Ellerin said in an interview Wednesday. Having worked with doctors earlier in her career from a marketer’s perspective, Ellerin said the emergence of social media has opened doors — not only between marketers and physicians, but also between physicians and their patients.
Many, like oncologist Dr. Stephen Lemon of Omaha, Neb., jumped into the social-media fray to fight the incorrect information that proliferates on the Internet.
“10 years ago, there was a lot of information on the web, but today, there is so much that it’s a wonder any layperson or even an expert can sift through it and know what’s accurate and what’s not,” Ellerin said, citing the key point hit upon by Lemon in his desire to engage online.
Lemon, who is preparing to launch CancerLifeCenter.com as a resource guide for cancer patients and their families, said he wants to “make the right information available to help the patient.”
Many doctors realize that patients are using social media as a way of garnering medical information — often from one another.
“Patients are sharing information among themselves; we need to be there too,” said Virginia-based bone and soft tissue surgeon Dr. Felasfa Wodajo.
Dr. Val Jones created BetterHealth.com in 2008 to bring together a large portion of the patients and physicians engaged in the social-media realm. New Hampshire-based internist Dr. Kevin Pho has become something of a social-media celebrity in the medical world, posting his takes on developments in the industry on his website, KevinMD.com, since 2004.
It is in sharing and disseminating information that doctors have found the most success; tracking down new patients has yet to produce fruit for many, Ellerin found.
Speaking with Dr. Alan Dappen, a seasoned family-medicine practitioner, Ellerin discovered that efforts to garner new patients have yet to take root, for the most part. The problem, she believes, may be as much with the patients as the doctors not reaching out.
“Many patients still look at doctors in a different light… though I do think over the next several years it will have more of an impact as people become more comfortable with doctors putting themselves out there,” Ellerin said. “Now if you Google a doctor and their blog or Twitter page comes up, you can use that to vet them.”
And while some doctors cite privacy concerns, a lack of compensation or other factors when relaying a reluctance in joining the social-media crowd, Ellerin said time is the biggest roadblock to more doctors getting involved.
For those that do participate, however, many find that their time spent online pays off in spades.
“It takes time to build a network and cultivate relationships on Twitter,” said pediatric gastroenterologist Dr. Bryan Vartabedian. ” But they are starting to bear fruit. I see it when I ask for help. The strength and power of those relationships are shocking.”
Image credit: 18percentgrey, iStockPhoto
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Great post and overview on what's going on with MD's and social media. Thanks.
I get the impression that often people forget that doctors went into medicine –specifically– to help people, and many seem to be frustrated that it's so hard to reach out to patients and give them information they need to get well.
The frustration sometimes stems from a lack of guidance from the Feds (HIPAA), employers (HMOs) or payers (insurance companies & Medicare) on what channels and what messages are OK to send.
If three or four entities could just publish guidelines on what's OK/Not-Ok to publish, tweet, or status….that could go a long way towards bringing MD's closer to patients.
As with all new technologies, knowing what you can't do usually isn’t constricting; it’s liberating.
My recent post Front page content
Just an fyi, the AMA recently published Social Media Guidelines for physicians. This is a positive step and shows that the AMA recognizes we are in 2010. Yet while I applaud guidance, I don't the lack thereof is the main reason physicians (or others like lawyers, accountants, etc) don't engage. I believe it comes down to time commitment, lack of immediate ROI and the "white coat syndrome."
While the doors are opening and doctors are peering into the room, the vast majority will still roll their eyes at the mere mention of social media. Many will recoil at the thought of the perceived risks, especially since there are very few established guidelines out there. Doctors such as myself, Kevin,Bryan, Jeff Livingston, etc etc have been*here* since the very beginning. We have been carefully navigating the intersection of healthcare and social media and have a very good understanding of the relevant privacy issues and how two play within the appropriate boundaries.
I agree that physicians need to engage the public and help them vet the various info sources available. We should push relevant, EBM , actionable content so that the first page of a google search on a health condition doesn't show mostly commercially biased content at occurs now.
To those who don't think engaging in social media will pay off I would counter that it will— as it has for me. I frequently note in my blog what a potential (or real) ROI looks like in my practice. Please refer to this post as an example http://hjluks.posterous.com/roi-of-engaging-patie…
As I also mention frequently, one day a physician will look in a mirror and see a patient…. That patient will know how to navigate our horribly complex, and confusing health care system and all physicians should endeavor to engage via social media to help patients who are scared, lost, have tons of questions and do not know where to turn. Together we can make an enormous difference.
We ARE all patients!
Thanks for posting, Howard. You are definitely one of the stars of the social physician universe! I use your post from July on Physicians and Social Media/Twitter in presentations as an example of progressive doctors. Thanks again and look forward to being in touch.
My recent post The Social Physician
For a good illustration of that, watch the movie The Doctor with William Hurt…it really makes your point.
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[...] recent article by SmartBlog’s Adam Gaub on how social media is impacting the medical field (http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/12/03/report-examines-why-doctors-take-the-plunge-into-social…) raises some interesting points. Preconceptions of physicians’ computer savvy and patient [...]
What about WebMD's community pages? They've been doing the social thing – quietly – for a long time.
[...] SmartBlog. Relaterade inlägg:Kan läkare och patienter vara vänner på Facebook?Facebook kan orsaka [...]
What about websites providing answers and solutions to patient driven issues 24/7? From the physician end, you do not need to risk on using social media to advertise yourself, at least i think this way.
[...] Report examines why doctors take the plunge into social media [...]
[...] December 13, 2010 by dandunlop A recently released white paper titled “The Social Physician” interviews 10 physicians from across the country with varying specialties who have taken the plunge into the world of social media. The white paper found that more doctors than we think are actively engaging in social media to communicate with patients. Author Bunny Ellerin of Ellerin HealthMedia explains that “the emergence of social media has opened doors – not only between marketers and physicians, but also between physicians and their patients.” I encourage you to read Adam Gaub’s SmartBlog post about the report: http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/12/03/report-examines-why-doctors-take-the-plunge-into-social…. [...]
[...] Doctors Go Social to Reach Out to Patients [...]
I assume some doctors prefer to withdraw and not be part of this phenomenon because they fear this will become too time-consuming for them. Albeit the world wide success of social media, there are still doctors who most certainly would rather remain focused on their work. On the other hand, I am sure there are medical communities on the social media platforms that prove great use in sharing latest medical breakthroughs and techniques. As for private clinics fighting against addictions, sharing information is actually advisable, since the research market on alternative therapies is constantly growing.