As you know, or can probably figure out, I have an interest (or even a passion for) medicine and technology. So, I very much have an interest to see how technology can help me in my job. I have particular interest in seeing how social media (blogs, podcasts, facebook, twitter, etc) can help me communicate the message better.
This past week, Dr. Kevin Pho, better known as KevinMD, had an op-ed piece in USA Today online entitled "Doctors Ignore Internet At Their Own Peril." It's no secret that Kevin has used social media and the internet to help get the message out on the unique physician view on medical and health policy issues. In his own Linked In profile, Kevin describes himself as "Social media's leading physician voice," and I very much agree with that. In the USA Today piece he says this:
Doctors who are not active online risk being marginalized. Facebook and Twitter users, half of whom are under of age of 34, rely on the web for most of their information. As this demographic ages, it’s conceivable that they will consult social media first to answer their health questions.Below, you'll see two TV interviews I did on December 18, 2009, on local TV news, talking about Doctors and the Internet (link to interview1 and interview 2).
Almost every day, I have patients ask me about information that they read online or heard from a friend which then directed the patient to search online for more information. I agree with Kevin that docs that continue to marginalize online information or marginalize social media - will themselves be marginalized. (If you would like to see more of my interviews from local TV news on a variety of topics, check out MikeSevilla.TV)
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