Why Medicine Cannot Ignore Social Media. |
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| Event | Interactive 2011 |
| Format | Panel |
| Organizer | Renee Berry – KLX Media |
| Description | Oh, websites aren’t important. Our employees don’t need email. Saying you just ‘don’t do social media’ will last as long as those opening sentences, yet of the 762 hospitals in the United States, 551 have Facebook Pages, 583 have Twitter Accounts, 348 have YouTube Channels and only 99 have Blogs, according to July, 2010 statistics from Ed Bennett. Of these interesting numbers, it is fascinating to see how many organizations are using social media with limited understanding of how to effectively engage the community. What is more compelling is that hospitals account for only a small portion of all health care organizations that could also be utilizing social media to support patients, advocate for legitimate health information and to highlight innovative research and people at their organizations. So why is health care so resistant to our new communication platforms? The usual first response is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, a federal law that protects patient privacy. This law is crucially important in health care, however saying HIPPA is a reason to not engage with the community shows immense misunderstanding of communications today. Social media has already played a historic role in the reversal of an FDA ruling that had an incredible impact on end-of-life care in America. This panel will showcase visionaries in the field demonstrating the vast positive social impact of social media in health care. |
| Questions Answered |
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| Level | Intermediate |
| Category | Health |
| Tags | Medicine, patients, socialmedia |