Social media has invaded everything we do with communities that we actively take part in every day like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Using social media can let us keep in touch with people in a good way. Other times, it’s a case of information overload or simply TMI. The younger generation of doctors who have grown up on social networking are slowly but surely bringing that full experience into clinical medicine.
Medicine in general is often at the forefront of new technology. That’s obvious when it comes to medical technology, but it’s also true when talking about everyday technology that assists doctors in gaining more knowledge or performing their jobs better. Doctors have long been fans of using handheld devices, starting early-on with the Palm Pilot PDAs and their ability to hold entire encyclopedias of medical knowledge, most importantly the Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR). Now, doctors are starting to use the latest in social media and networking to bring the twenty-first century to medicine and bringing medicine directly to the people. On February 21, Houston’s Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital live-tweeted a double coronary artery bypass surgery for the first time in the United States.
Publishing a report or paper on a significant medical discovery or achievement is done all the time. Those papers are usually only seen by other doctors and researchers. Live tweeting a procedure or surgery definitely brings doctors’ actions directly to the public. In a statement on the hospital’s website the event was meant to give an inside look into common cardiac surgery. Dr. Michael Macris wore a special helmet cam for photos and videos during the procedure and sent them to a nearby computer. Another doctor in the room posted the videos, sent out tweets and answered questions from all of the followers.
WARNING: Graphic content below with video of heart surgery from Houston’s Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO7EOlwBSN0′]
More than a dozen surgeries have been live-tweeted around the U.S. in the last several years and Bloomberg Businessweek and corporate communications group Regan say its a great way to boost a hospital’s reputation. The problem though is that most medical institutions have yet to come up with a clear policy for the use of social media in conjunction with patient care. This, coupled with HIPPA regulations, makes for a minefield of potential problems. To illustrate how problematic HIPAA can be, it’s not clear-cut that it’s okay to announce a patient’s first and last name in a doctor’s waiting room to bring them into a treatment room. Multiply that by the reach of the internet and you have to wonder how tweeting about a surgery is even allowable. A doctor in Westerly, RI was reprimanded by the state medical board for tweeting about a patient and she didn’t even include the patient’s name. A reprimand comes uncomfortably close to a doctor losing their license to practice medicine, which not only threatens their job, but also their very existence as a doctor. The Mayo Clinic, a leading healthcare facility, is at the forefront of developing social media guidelines with the establishment of the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media. Also, the Harvard Medical School is sponsoring a two-day conference called Medicine 2.0’12 to discuss and learn about the latest in digital media and technology to help doctors.
Beyond just disseminating information, Matt Algren pointed in out in this article about a Kenyan village using the social network that Twitter can be used for powerful and lifesaving purposes. Doctors in remote parts of the Eastern Caribbean and Central America use Twitter for running their floating mobile medical clinics. This article on Mashable tells how a non-profit humanitarian organization, Floating Doctors, uses Twitter for three purposes. In an effort to foster donations, they share their stories from the jungle. They also use Twitter to collaborate with doctors around the world to come up with treatments for ailments beyond their skill. Most importantly, according to the doctor interviewed, they use Twitter to disseminate information about diseases that have been all but eliminated in more developed parts of the world. However, even this team of doctors, treating patients in remote parts of the Third World hold ethics and patient privacy to the highest level. Even though they don’t have to worry about malpractice, they never share personal information about patients.
It doesn’t matter if its the First World or Third World and it doesn’t matter if its mandated by HIPAA or the Hippocratic Oath, all doctors feel a responsibility to protect patient privacy. Social media can be used for great things, but there is clearly a need to carefully navigate this new frontier to make sure that the patient’s best interests trumps all.
Comments are closed.