How social health networks will change medicine in 2012
I am a passionate advocate of the power of social networks to connect, inform and empower patients, and equally its ability to enable communication, collaboration and information collection by medical professionals. In a report published last year by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, Paul Keckley, executive director, advised that “industry stakeholders who do not consider how to incorporate social networks into their future strategies risk being run over on the super-highway of health information sharing.” He goes on to observe that:
Social networks hold considerable potential value for health care organizations because they can be used to reach stakeholders, aggregate information and leverage collaboration.
The statistics quoted in this report are interesting to note. About one-third of Americans who go online to research their health currently use social networks to find fellow patients and discuss their conditions, and 36 percent of social network users evaluate and leverage other consumers’ knowledge before making health care decisions.
In a TechCrunch interview this week with the executive director of FutureMed, Daniel Kraft discusses the biggest emerging trends in HealthTech. Alongside information on how A.I, big data, 3D printing, and other new technologies will help you get better medical care, Kraft highlighted the power of social health networks to change health behavior. Social networks are also quite powerful for tracking and predicting disease. James Fowler, co-author of the book Connected is now working with Facebook to look at health data.
We’re in the Facebook era, and are more open to sharing information in the healthcare spectrum. Individuals will share their whole history through services including PatientsLikeMe and CureTogether where patients with similar problems from migraines to Lou Geghrig’s disease will consolidate health information. This will enable improvements in clinical trials.
It’s a growing area and one that I am excited to be a part of. It will be fascinating to see how it will expand and develop in the coming year. I would love to hear your thoughts, opinions and personal experiences of using social networking for health. Please share your views in the comments below.
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Join the Health Activist tweetchat with Wego Health every Tuesday on Twitter at 3 pm ET #HAchat
Watch out for the #bcsm chat on Twitter on Mondays (check out my storify of last night’s chat)
Fascinating subject and one I too will follow with interest in 2012
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I agree that it’s exciting to be a witness to the evolution of health care through social networks – great stuff Marie!
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Obviously this a huge area and one that is very interesting to be a part of – thanks for the introduction to social networking for health
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Definitely going to be an area of much interest and I think will benefit patients and physicians alike. Due to the large number of social networking sites, some devoted exclusively to medical conditions, patients now more than ever have the opportunity to fully research their diagnosis and treatment options, often before even seeing a physician. While this can sometimes lead to problems (wrong diagnosis, inaccurate information, etc) in general I feel that this will increase patient empowerment by providing information and support that they may not be getting from their physician. It will also hopefully cause physicians to be more proactive in terms of providing information and support to their patients.
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I am fascinated by the potential of health technology tools to change the face of medicine so I am looking forward to reading the TechCrunch interview with Dr Kraft
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Fascinating subject – the potential for Health 2.0 is endless!
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I use the internet to stay informed of the latest cancer developments because i believe that knowledge is power and being an informed patient can save your life.
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As a health professional I’ve seen a huge increase in patients seeking information on online health sites over the past five years, and I would have a concern about some of the information they are seeking. Having said that, in the majority of cases the information they are accessing is actually quite accurate
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People have been talking to each other in hospital and doctor waiting rooms since the beginning of medicine. That conversation has just moved online. Now they’re talking to each other online and becoming more informed and empowered as a result.
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When patients have more information, they can partner more effectively with their doctors and take greater ownership of their health and healthcare.
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The opportunity to share resources, advice, and encouragement is something that can be incredibly empowering for a cancer patient and so anything that facilitates this is to be embraced IMO
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I find it deeply disturbing that in an age when more people are going online to access medical information first doctors are losing control of the online message, so I hope we will see more doctors going online here in Ireland in 2012. As you pointed out in a previous post on JBBC doctors “need to serve.. as interpreters of data, and be willing to separate the tangible information from the increasing amount of noise patients find online.”
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The knowledge that I am not alone in my cancer fight has been a great source of strength and courage to me
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I absolutely agree with what you have said about the power of social media to connect, etc.Sharing our experiences takes the stigma out of having cancer. Saying it out loud and knowing others understand exactly what you are talking about help take away so much of the fear. Thanks for providing a space here for us to do this.
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I’ve used social networking to gain information about lymphedema, a medical condition quite rare, even in the breast cancer population. Facebook has several groups dedicated to lymphedema matters, groups that are quite active and vocal. When I first developed lymphedema in 1997 we had nothing so widespread, simply some ACOR listservs and discussion boards. Nothing like the explosion today.
And for discussing the mental and psychological effects of diseases, nothing could be more helpful than to hear from others experiencing the same emotions. In-person support groups may soon be a thing of the past.
Thanks for posting about this fascinating new phenomenon.
XOXO,
Jan
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This is an intriguing topic. I think it all boils down to that old cliche, “There is strength in numbers.” Sharing our personal stories, digging for medical information, exploring options, etc. through social media is empowering for patients. It certainly has been for me. In fact, I have found it to be life-changing. Thanks for being such an important cog in this “movement.” You are a much needed passionate advocate indeed!
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Social media can invariably play a large role in health care. Working for a health charity in Canada, we have several Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, all with varying levels of engagement. The appetite is definitely there (for myself included!), but social media can prove to be challenging for a number of reasons, especially when it comes to government legislation. While health charities are much less restricted in Canada when it comes to online interaction, pharmaceutical companies are still a bit hesitant are treading very lightly on the advice of their legal counsel, even when their online properties information-based (unbranded). It will be interesting to see how everything unfolds in 2012!
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Marie,
Thank you for this excellent, informative posting. Social media is playing a huge role, I think, in empowering patients, who are now going to doctors armed with information. Of course, the downside is that not all the information is good or accurate. Nevertheless, reading personal accounts and information is useful.
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Because we weren’t meant to live, love or suffer alone, social media is a natural to help us connect and network about everything. Hopefully, we can help people understand how important it is to only visit credible sites, and what makes a credible site. Garbage in, garbage out.
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Facebook has enabled me to connect daily with my “rubies” (we created a closed Facebook group so we can chat away in privacy). Never thought I would pledge allegiance to Facebook, but there you go! 😉
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Very interesting. I cant wait to see how this will play out. My grandmother who was diagnosed with Parkensons was constantly needing her meds to be rebalanced which almost caused her death at one point. It would have been great to have a social network to find out more on what the problems were and a possible remidie to her medicine.
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There is so much potential here in cyberspace. I remember hearing about a study out of Harvard that found that giving patients online and email access to their docs & their office visit notes resulted in better compliance with treatment and fewer office & hospital visits. Social networking has definitely kept me sane these last few years. Along with my sistahs in the blogosphere, I’ve also found that a few of my patients and colleagues in healthcare have found their way to my blog as well!
xoxo, Kathi
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Great discussion! I went at social media all backwards–I didn’t use it until after I completed treatment. Unfortunately, it wasn’t hard for me to find people I know with breast cancer so I was able to get advice easily. And I have to admit, I got on social media because it’s on the author’s to-do list–I wrote a book last year about my experience with DCIS because I had never heard of it until I was diagnosed with it and figured that must be true for others too. But I quickly learned it’s not about selling a book. I love the thought that I can help someone else feel less alone. I also love how people who are newly diagnosed are using SM to get their questions answered and reach out for support, and what an incredibly supportive community we have out here. Forums like #bcsmchat on Twitter are awesome!!!!
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Hi Jackie..like you I only started with social media after I had finished treatment, and would love to have had the online support when I was going through treatment, as I remember feeling very isolated, often confused and alone during that time. Having said that, I have been so grateful to have been able to tap into this support during other difficult times in my life – to know you are not alone is such an important part of healing from any illness or condition…including the condition we know as life!
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The condition we know as life. LOVE that!!!!
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