June 8th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
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Where are the doctors on LinkedIn? If you spend any time there, you’ll find that we are few and far between. Sure, there are the entrepreneurs, the physician executives, and the social wonks, but not many practicing physicians. Why not?
1. Physicians are hyperlocal. Most MDs live and work in relatively small, geographically defined locations. Their success is sustained through word of mouth and the cultivation of a limited number of personal relationships. The average practicing physician has no need to sell himself beyond his local market. The depth of their bio is irrelevant to their local success.
2. Physicians are static. Once established, physicians aren’t likely to pick up and move as other professionals might need to do. Many physicians spend their careers in a couple of locations. Hustling for the next level isn’t how doctors think. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
June 2nd, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
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A couple of health journalism gems you shouldn’t miss just because they were published over the holiday weekend:
Natasha Singer of the New York Times had an important piece, “When Patients Meet Online, Are There Side Effects?,” about privacy concerns when social networking sites like CureTogether.com and PatientsLikeMe.com offer online communities for patients and collect members’ health data for research purposes.
John Fauber of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel published another in his “Side Effects” series on conflicts of interest in healthcare. This one was about doctors vouching for the drug Multaq for treating atrial fibrillation without ever having seen all of the data.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune began a “Too Much Medicine” series. Health editor Dave Hage informs that they’ve been working on this project for nearly a year with plans for a few more installments in coming months, each covering different ailments and procedures that are over-used or under-proven. (Unfortunately, I think the series is only available in the print editions.)
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
May 13th, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion, Research
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A patient apologized to me for asking so many questions. “There’s no need to apologize,” I said to the patient, “It’s wonderful that you have so many questions concerning your healthcare.” I mentioned to her that she is an “empowered and engaged patient,” and that’s a good thing.
It’s no secret that health consumers are turning to the Internet for health information.
In a recent article from MediaPost News, Gavin O’Malley writes that, according to new a study by Epsilon Strategic & Analytic Consulting Group, “40% of online consumers use social media for health information — reading or posting content — while the frequency of engagement varies widely. According to the study, individuals who use healthcare social media fall into two broad groups: the 80% who are highly engaged patients, and take active roles in health management; and the 20% who lack confidence to play an active role in their own health.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
May 13th, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, Medblogger Shout Outs, News, Opinion
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In the medical blogosphere, we talk a lot about medical community sites such as Sermo.com, Ozmosis.com or Doctors.net.uk and we always mention these as huge communities.
While Sermo has over 110,000 physician members, the Chinese dxy.cn has over 1.4 million professionals on its site. It has a blog, a conference site, a pharmacy channel, biomedical business information platform, it covers more than a 100 specialties, and offers thousands of jobs. I tried to translate the mission statement with Google Translate:
Lilac Garden Biomedical Science and Technology Network ( DXY.CN ) was established in July 23, 2000, and since its inception has been committed for the majority of medical professionals to provide a specialized life science platform. With professionalism and strong accumulation and the deepening and development of professional exchange, Lilac Garden has grown into the largest and most popular group of pharmaceutical industry professionals to network media platforms.
Now I’m looking for Chinese doctors who would help us create a Chinese section for PeRSSonalized Medicine, the easiest medical information aggregator that features only selected resources. If you know someone, please let me know.
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
April 18th, 2010 by PhilBaumannRN in Better Health Network, Opinion
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Even though it’s 2010, the talk and hype orbiting around social media continues. In fact, it seems to be getting louder. So I put together a Prezi: 8 Stages of Social Media Psychosis (some language may be harsh.)
For those of us who’ve been at this for a long time (my experience with social networking goes back to 1978 –- that’s a whole other story), it’s startling to witness the level of Web illiteracy in many important, well-financed organizations. Unfortunately, due to this Web illiteracy, I’m sad to say that the talk around social media will go on for some time. And that’s dismaying, because there so much more that we can talk about.
*This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann*
