social media: what is it, anyway?
DESCRIPTION
When it comes to the medical profession, social media is a bit trickier than in some other fields, because of the legal and ethical issues involved. But it still comes down to one thing: Don't be stupid.This is the presentation from a panel I participated in at the 53rd annual meeting of ASTRO, the American Society for Radiation Oncology.TRANSCRIPT
Social Media: What is it, anyway?
Amy VernonHasai Inc.
Disclosure
• I have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Learning Objectives• Defining social media.• Social media’s role in the medical community.• Benefits and drawbacks of social media for medical professionals.
Changing How We Communicate
• IMMEDIACY: “I tweeted and no one answered.”
• INTIMACY: “Someone with XYZ Corp. personally responded!”
• ATTENTION: “I just ran a 5K for the first time!”
Everybody’s Doing It
• 87% of physicians use social media personally• 67% of physicians use social media
professionally• 1/3 of doctors received Facebook friend
requests from patients• ¾ of those doctors rejected the requests
Source: QuantiaMD survey, August 2011
Source: QuantiaMD survey
The Value for Patients
• Doctors find value for patients. “Would you recommend that apatient participate in anonline patient community?”
Source: QuantiaMD survey
Very social, but not with patients
Source: QuantiaMD survey
If everyone’s doing it, why aren’t you?
Source: QuantiaMD survey
Ah, liability
• The cardinal rule of social media: Don’t be stupid. I.E.: Don’t say anything online you wouldn’t want everyone in the world to know.
• Rhode Island doctor reprimanded after inadvertently identifying a patient in a Facebook post.
• JAMA study identified 3% of physician tweets as containing “unprofessional content”
Sources: Amednews.com,Boston.com, News.com.au
Oh, like this?
Source: Twitter.com
Nonmaleficence
• Works the same in social media. First, do no harm.
• If you think before you post, you should be just fine.
OK, but still, WHY?
• People are talking about their medical problems online.
• Celebrities talk about their medical experiences & give “advice.”
• People listen to celebrities, and while they may be well-meaning, they may have no idea what they’re talking about.
Is this who you want parents to take medical advice from?
How about this guy?
How about Chrissie?
It’s where the patients are
• Be available. Offer your expert knowledge in cases where possible.
• Don’t diagnose – but offer to suggest resources to look up information.
• Don’t respond to the “trolls” – the people whose sole meaning in life is defined by baiting people into arguments online.
?s
• Amy Vernon• [email protected]• Twitter: http://twitter.com/amyvernon• Facebook: http://facebook.com/amyvernon• LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/amyvernon