Twitter & Health Care

I'm fascinated by new an innovative uses of social new media tools in medicine and health care. The use of e-mail and tools like secure, password protected websites have been talked about (but not really implemented that much for a variety of reasons) for a long time. But, what about social media solutions like twitter, facebook, and other tools.

I came across this post from Phil Baumann who is a tech guy with some health care credentials. He shows this point of view by bringing up the commonly held concerns of those in health care in using technological solutions - namely issues of patient privacy, HIPPA, and fear of litigation. However, using his tech point of view, he challenges the health care industry to look "outside the box" and see innovative uses of social media.

In the health care industry there is often a fine line between caution and fear. It is the fear of change so common in health care that I hope we can overcome. Twitter may be a proving ground of how we overcome our fears, satisfy our cautions and extend the reach of our health care system with web-based technologies and communities.

His post is called, "140 Health Care Uses for Twitter." Some of these suggestions are really off the wall, but others I see as possible good uses of this medium. Take a look at some of these suggestions and let me know what you think. How would you use Twitter to take care of patients?

Finally, I'd like to welcome those of you who have checked this post out from Grand Rounds. So glad you're here! I invite you to check out the blog, my internet radio show, and my Twitter feed. If you like, then I encourage you to subscribe. If you like my twitter feed, please consider voting for me in the Twitter Shorty Finals! The polls close this week and your vote can help me reach the goal of winning my category. Thanks for your consideration!