SOCIAL MEDIA CAN IMPACT HEALTHCARE

JAIMIE OLSON

“The power of social Media for Spreading information, creating community and growing business is undeniable, and it has also proven to be a valuable tool in healthcare in instances like sharing resources between research organizations, taking a pulse on consumers’ experiences with a new device or recruiting participants for a clinical trial” (Heather Mack)

Healthcare practitioners approach popular communication while protecting themselves and their patients.

Social media is where patients, customers, consumers as well as colleagues are and that’s where healthcare profesionals are trying to be

Applying social media to healthcare can be difficult when ensuring compliance with regulations around communications content from the FDA/HIPAA

There are risks when it comes to mediums and channels through communication

Healthcare and financial services are the most regulated, along with health laws and patient privacy.

Looking at expanding new communication tactics when it comes to social media, having to build the IT field and compliance to regulate new risks and tools.

Social Media helps provide HCP’s with tools to share information, debate health care policy and practice issues and to promote health behaviors.

Physicians often keep up to date when it comes to new articles, listening to new experts, research medical developments and consulting with other physicians regarding patient issues. It is vital that they share this information with their other patients over social media.

While using social media in the healthcare field might consider key considerations, it can also provide many benefits.

Engaging patients, growing practices or wield influence in a certain field are just some of the postives that can come out of this.

Getting the word out about a device or treatment that patients might not know about or to share recent research can go a long way

These are some of the most effective tools:

Twitter- Posting links to articles, youtube links or short tweets that include new data or new research

Facebook- Live is an effective tool to teach colleagues, patients and to provide information that they either don’t know or to expand their knowledge.

Blogging- Developing new research and sharing it with stories, blogs or videos.

As Social Media has evolved, Medical focused professional communities have been established.

These networks are typically private and protected, including Sermo “Physician-only” community, Doximity “Physician-only” social networking community.

But recently with social media growing, practices have established public sources to discuss news and development in the healthcare field.

These help Healthcare Professionals connect with not only patients but with the general public.

When relating it to the Communication Field:

-”It’s not how much you talk, but the content of what you say, and where and when” (Campbell).

The message that you are trying to communicate with the world can happen through different channels, face to face, computer or written channels.

The written mode of communication is the most prevalent.

“For example, say you are at a big meeting or conference and you have 14 tweets, but then it is mentioned or retweeted several thousand times. That’s influence.”

Within the Classical Theory, one of the main points is the importance of written communication

Weber is one of the most explicit when it comes to advocating the importance of rules and codes in written form.

The style of communication, can be found in organizations of classical theorists.

Communication styles are typically top down, written and task related. They are usually formal as well.

The Direction of Communicaiton Flow states that in classical theories is to consider how messages are routed within the organizational system.

“Building on that, Campbell shared how social media can be used to help patients who couldn’t otherwise attend support groups or meetings. Doctors can hold live Twitter chats instead, or read comments from patients on their own blogs or Facebook pages to learn more about the patient experience”

These types of communication are very important because 75% of people access Twitter daily on their phones.

Mobile is one of the most important parts of communication and especially in healthcare.

Within the Montreal School’s CCO Approach, “the concept of ‘co-orientation’ the process through which people coordinate activity through interaction.”

Montreal School Scholars see co-orientation is achieved through the interlinked ideas of conversation and text.

Text influence the co-orientation process that does occur during conversation.

For example, the text within social media that doctors. Physicians, surgeons and more use expresses a message for what they believe and stand by.

When referring to discourse and Discourse, the ideas get at some of the most basical principals inlcuding the communicative construction of an organizaiton.

It draws meaning to organizations and overtime it structures the main focuses of that organization.

The conversations that have been held overtime with patient-health care providers have developed into preforming that communication over social media. Which is a new platform for many healthcare professionals.

In conclusion,

When it comes to communication in the healthfield, this is one of the most important parts.

Communication with not only patients, other physicians and medial professionals, helps share information that can benefit everyone.

Communication can be in person but because of advancements of technology, moving over to social media has benefited Healthcare providers tremendously,

Allowing those who wouldn’t usually receive these kinds of information has benefited not only them but to help the healthfield as a whole.

Questions:

1. What other kinds of Social Media could benefit the Healthcare field?

2. When it comes to Social Media in the Healthcare Field, what kinds of things should you avoid talking about?

3. Why is it so important that the Healthcare field advances with technology to preform these kinds of communication?

4. When it comes to live chats (facebook/twitter), how many people view these that wouldn’t usually get to benefit hearing about advancements of treatments, new medicine, etc.

Questions:

1. When it comes to Communcaiton about new theories/treatments, what is the rate of patients/future patients getting this treatment because they were informed on it?

2. What types of challenges do healthcare providers face when it comes to patient-physician confidentiality?

3. What other advancments are heatlhcare providers researching to improve their online database?

4. Is it important for starting out healthcare providers to have these kinds of social media accounts? Or does it impact their interactions with patients because they can just share everything online?

Healthcare Provders that are already using Social Media to connect with Patients:https://www.facebook.com/SparrowHealthSystem/

https://twitter.com/MHealthLab

https://twitter.com/MottChildren

Citation"How social media can impact healthcare in the right – and wrong - ways." MobiHealthNews. N.p., 28 Feb. 2017. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.

Miller, Katherine. Organizational Communication Approaches and Processes. 7th ed. N.p.: Cengage Learning, n.d. Print.

Ventola, C. Lee. "Social Media and Health Care Professionals: Benefits, Risks, and Best Practices." Pharmacy and Therapeutics. MediMedia USA, Inc., July 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.