A George Washington University study found that 3% of physicians’ tweets were “unprofessional,” setting off a flurry of concerned headlines.
To be sure, doctors giving away patient details on Twitter or other social media sites is a big no-no and a nearly surefire violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Such providers need to reined in.
Yet, considering the number of studies done showing physician errors being made (39% of residents self-reported at least one major medical error during a six-year Mayo Clinic study) or physicians going to the other extreme and wasting patients’ money on unneeded exams (1 in 5 bone-and-joint doctors admitted in a Pennsylvania study to ordering exams based more out a fear of lawsuits than medical necessity), 3% of tweets going afoul doesn’t seem quite so bad.
The FDA lacks guidelines for drug companies and other marketers in the realm of social media, and the American Medical Association’s guidelines, released last year, are generic, lead researcher Dr. Katherine Chretien told MyHealthNewsDaily.
Chretien, who uses Twitter, said despite the red flags of unprofessional conduct and the potential for privacy violations, inappropriate remarks or dissemination of medically incorrect information, she sees social media as a place where the patient-provider relationship can be enhanced.
“I think the potential for physicians on social media is great in terms of spreading good health information, and advocacy and increasing health literacy,” she told MyHealthNewsDaily.
One of the more successful physicians in the online realm is Seattle-based pediatrician Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, who utilizes a blog for Seattle Children’s Hospital and her Twitter account to share her knowledge and point her followers to interesting developments in the medical world.
In an interview with SmartBrief late last year, Swanson said she takes extreme caution in changing patient names, genders and situations when discussing a situation she encountered during her practice, and she will even get that patient (or patient’s parents, as the case may be) to give permission before discussing the case in the virtual realm.
Image credit: sjlocke, via iStockphoto
Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin
RSS
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Will Kievit, Softwind Studio, Willbur Advertising, SocialWize, Santi Chacon and others. Santi Chacon said: Is Twitter a hazard or an asset for doctors?: A George Washington University study found that 3% of physicians’ … http://bit.ly/gCkkXK [...]
The best-case scenario of Dr. Swanson can only be repeated by educating the public and the medical community on the importance and advantage of having an online resource to draw from using social media. Covering this topic, then, is an admirable decision, and a way to spread the word that social media works in all industries, when properly nurtured and applied. Great job, guys.
I think that just like everybody else physicians need to think about what every post that they put on the internet anywhere might mean to them in the future. It is unbelievable to me that people post some of the things that they do without thinking that once it is put on the internet it is out there possibly forever on some server.
Having said that, there are plenty of positive ways for physicians or anyone else for that matter to use Twitter both personally and stictly for internet marketing purposes to gain exposure for their practices. Health tips, outbreaks of flu, links to health information, news on healthcare, etc.
My recent post Profitable & Results Driven Internet Marketing Activities for Business
The same can be said about doctors who write about their patients on their blogs!
[...] this article illustrates, the consequences of marketing mistakes can be higher in the medical profession than others. [...]
We are looking for an Expert in North Florida to teach a class to 200 physicians on how to make more money using social media, while staying HIPAA compliant. Does anyone know of someone? Associated Medical Office Experts info@amoexp.com
Both of them (patient and physician or doctors) can make use of Twitter as a negative against anyone.
My recent post Art and Crafts
[...] articles in the past few months on why HCP’s should and should not be using social media. One article suggested that physicians should not be using Twitter unless they learn social media etiquette. [...]