The Social Side of Healthcare

The healthcare industry has been slow to adopt social media. Notoriously slow moving when it comes to internet technology in general, healthcare professionals tend to see their work as a private matter between patients and doctors. It’s not difficult to understand the hesitation, as the risk of exposing personal information is daunting. Recently, however, care providers are realizing that social media can be a powerful tool to help doctors collaborate as well as to reach out into their communities and help patients stay informed and stay healthy.

As healthcare goes social, some organizations are developing new, private tools and others are co-opting existing, public tools, like Twitter and YouTube. New tools come with advantages that are specific to the industry, and existing tools come with established audiences, eager for reputable health advice.

Doximity is a social network for physicians that is intended to create a space for collaboration, allowing doctors to work together to help their patients. Doximity is also a networking tool, and like all social media, how it will be used is not restricted to its original intent (ahem, Facebook).

Sherpaa is a startup—replete with a slick startup website that proves that insurance providers really can get past 90s-style web design—that’s trying to reduce health insurance costs by connecting doctors and patients using technology. Sherpaa combines traditional policy coverage with instant, 24/7 access to doctors who can address many issues and prevent the need for visits to offices or hospitals. Now that it exists, it seems so obvious. We have the technology. [Insert obligatory Six Million Dollar Man reference.]

In general, health practitioners have noted that connecting with patients through social media can improve the doctor-patient experience at in-office visits, and these technologies can be used to encourage patients to be active in their own healthcare through health literacy.

The internet is currently a wellspring of really bad medical advice, but the efforts of reputable health organizations will beat back the tangle of confusing, dangerous misinformation. Quality healthcare has always been about making the most of technology, so it’s about time that the healthcare industry started taking advantage of the tech that’s already changed the way we manage our lives.