Social Media For Doctors: The Pros And Cons
The pros and cons of social media for physicians are nicely reviewed by a number of prominent medbloggers (including yours truly) by Bonnie Ellerin in her recent white paper (pdf). An excerpt:
There is a profound change sweeping the world of medicine. Technology is the driver, but it has nothing to do with a new drug, device or procedure. Rather it is about the change in physician behavior and mindset that technology — the Internet more specifically — has unleashed. Today, physicians of all ages and specialties are online, whether via laptop, desktop, or mobile.
With physicians’ acceptance of technology has come a new type of openness among a small but growing number. In the past, the only doctors who were likely to air views publicly were medical journalists. But, today, there are physicians who blog, tweet, email with patients, post videos, even check-in on Foursquare. If you have any doubt, just look at the “Favorite Blogs” section of a physician blogger or scan the list of followers/following of any doctor on Twitter, and you’ll get a sense of how many of them are getting social. Far more than you thought.
Read more HERE.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
h/t: @hjlucks on Twitter via Smartblog On Social Media.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
Social media in medicine is here to stay. I blog although my malpractice carrier is a bit uneasy about it. Docs do have to be careful they don’t offer medical advice to avoid the liability loop.