Health Care Trends With a Social Media Twist

December 2009 Blog Posts (9)

No Social Media Strategy Without Viable Physician Practice Platform ... What MDs need to do now

What should health care providers be doing in anticipation of the likely passage of an historic health reform bill? There are at least three possibilities: (1) Lament the passing of the good old days and oppose it; (2) Insist that it isn't good enough because it is lacking some key provision (tort reform; SGR replacement; robust public option); or (3) Embrace it, because incrementalism works, and prepare for what's coming down the pike.

As you may guess, I would recommend taking the… Continue

Added by David Harlow on December 29, 2009 at 11:02am — No Comments

"Big Tech Fights High Health Costs" Forbes.com

Check out Former Intel Chairman, Craig Barrett, on his participation with Dossia, a nonprofit consortium...

http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/21/dossia-healthcare-intel-intelligent-technology-barrett.html

Added by Sally Bain on December 22, 2009 at 11:03am — No Comments

Fixing the NHS

Last week’s pre-budget report form Alistair Darling does not make for happy reading. The main headline grabbers are the one-off tax on bank bonuses over £25,000 and an increase in National Insurance contributions from April 2011. Also in the report are plans to scale back spending on the NHS IT scheme (NPfIT) in England. The project, rolled out from 2005, comes with a pretty hefty price tag at over £12 billion.

In the report the Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, aims to save £600… Continue

Added by John Mc Intyre on December 22, 2009 at 9:24am — No Comments

Virtual Visits: The Solution to Long Wait Times and Overworked Doctors?

The New York Times reports United Health Group is launching a virtual physician visit program to alleviate the strain routine medical requests put on primary care physicians and ERs. Seemingly the "future of the house call," NowClinic will allow doctors to "see" a patient for 10 minutes without the lengthy office or ER wait.

Naturally, many physicians doubt this system is a viable option for various reasons ranging from doctor/patient confidentiality to the possible ailments that… Continue

Added by CaitlinW on December 21, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Ignoring the Doctor's Orders?

Dr. Kevin Pho, author of the KevinMD blog, commented this morning on a fairly new phenomenon sparked by the increase in social media use for healthcare information. According to Dr. Pho, the advent of the Internet and social media has produced not only empowered, educated patients, but patients with a growing disdain for authority. Dr. Pho references a recent article from LA Times columnist James Rainey which examines the backlash against a piece from Wired Magazine that debunked the link… Continue

Added by Jackie Hanley on December 16, 2009 at 8:52am — No Comments

Facebook Privacy Policies Could Influence Healthcare Industry

The healthcare industry may soon be taking a page from Facebook's playbook.

The new Facebook privacy policies that allow users very specific control over their profiles could set the standard for the healthcare industy. Healthcare has "consumer and legal demands for installing granular-level patient consents" on systems such as personal health records and electronic medical records where patients have individualized control, similar to Facebook.

There are many unknowns… Continue

Added by Erica Frank on December 14, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Former Intel CEO on EHRs

Good video worth watching on Forbes.com

Added by Dan Carter on December 10, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Social Media in Mental Health?

I just read a recent Examiner article about the launch of the Mental Health Social Network, further demonstrating the proliferation of social media in health care.

This particular application of social media in healthcare is interesting to me. On one hand, it's such a positive thing to be able to connect with your peers and empathsize with one… Continue

Added by Katie Judd on December 9, 2009 at 2:42pm — No Comments

What Realtime Search Means for Healthcare Marketing

As you know, Google’s realtime search service has gone live. In a nutshell, this service will incorporate realtime results from Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and FriendFeed into a designated section on each results page updating you search query live as you browse through results. What does this have to do with healthcare? With the escalating debate on the topic including recent sessions held by the FDA and the… Continue

Added by Leanne Drown on December 8, 2009 at 7:51am — No Comments