There have been a lot of physicians today who are doing follow ups on their patients using modern ways of communications like social media. Whether testing their patients regarding health messages, keeping track of disease trends, communicating with patients through email or identifying new medical problems, these technology-inclined doctors seem to be increasing nowadays.
As far as they are all concerned, the numbers given are not that high as of yet. There are still a lot of doctors who rely on paper and pen when prescribing meds or other agendas related to their patients and are more comfortable communicating with each other when using technology. Yet acquiring information coming from the top public health agencies in the nation up to the smaller medical clinics, it has been discovered that many patients want to spend more than just a 15-minute visit in the office and callbacks from their physicians at the end of the day.
Away from the high tech hubs of the East Coast and Silicon Valley, the pediatrician from Kansas City Natasha Burgert provides tips on rearing up children in her blog, Twitter and Facebook pages, as well as answers the questions of patients through text and email messages.
She stated that the tools that she use are all embedded within her normal work day and that she does all of these in between the checkups that she gets. Burgert said that it is much easier for her to send an email or show a blog post to a patient than it is for her to call them. The pediatrician mentioned that this is what the physicians of the old school usually do, allocating some time before the day ends to return calls to their patients.
Burgert has just received an email from her patient recently which was coming from a new mother who was asking how to wean her 2 year old child using a pacifier. In just a few clicks of the index finger, the pediatrician was able to share a blog post which provides tips on how to handle this topic.
A mother of two young daughters who are patients of Burgert, Sarah Hartley, stated that she finds it practical to have e-access with her doctor, with emails even late at night getting a response quickly. She said that it is very useful and helpful at the same time, that most parents will get concerned regarding a lot of things which may not be that big of a deal to be scheduling a personal appointment. Hartley said that it also gives her fast reassurances from her doctor which will ease off her worries the next day.
At 36 years old, Burgert does not charge her patients for communications via the virtual world, yet there are some doctors who do. She just stated that this way of communication only enhances the personal contact but in no way does it replace office visits with patients.
She said that most of her colleagues look at her and shake their heads whenever she tells them what she does. These doctors do not understand the use of these tools which is why they do this, but the doctor believes the upcoming generation that will be coming behind her will think this to be much more common.
Dr. Steven Nissen, a cardiologist from the Cleveland Clinic, comes from an older generation but has started to work with e-technology and mentions that he is a member of the Twitterati. Yet with the help of staffs from the clinic, the cardiologist who was in his 60s was able to lead a live chat in Twitter regarding topics such as cholesterol problems and heart failure and found the experience to be exhilarating.
The doctor stated that this different way of communication opens up an opportunity to talk to an audience which can be located anywhere in the world regarding heart health. He said that the downside in this is that it is challenging for physicians because the messages that they provide to interested people are not conducive in just a few characters. Nissen said that asking him a question regarding heart health will give the asker a five minute answer at least.
But with a lot of young people today that are facing obesity, which is one of the factors that contribute to having heart problems, Nissen believes that Twitter will be an effective way in reaching his target audience and he even plans to utilize the platform even more. He thinks it is great if he is able to get through the people that need to hear his message.
Acknowledging the benefits in using social media today, the American Medical Association however warns the doctors to put an emphasis in protecting the privacy of their patients and also to keep appropriate boundaries between them.
During a case that has been publicized, the state disciplinary board has just reprimanded Rhode Island emergency medicine physician Alexandra Thran for being unprofessional last year and has also fined her at least $500. This was after she has made comments on her page in Facebook about an injury of one of her patients. Although Thran did not mention any names, some people were able to figure out the identity. The doctor declined to respond to the requests for her to give comment.
The number of doctors who are using virtual and social media communication has been expected to increase under the Accountable Care Act. This act encourages the documenting of health records as well as exchanges electronically of health information to be made.
There was a study that was published online last March which found about 60 percent of public health departments of the state are using Twitter or other social media networks in order to send out information to people rather than communicate with patients.
Through Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spreads their messages in these social websites. The other services that it features involve 12 texts per month which includes automatic tips when it comes to obesity prevention and healthy eating advice. CDC has over 2 million followers on its social media websites as of today.
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