Guest posting by David Lam
Healthcare is an industry affected by a variety of influences. Healthcare practitioners, insurance & pharmaceutical companies, and policy legislators all have a say in how a patient’s health will be impacted. However, the ultimate decider of health remains the patient and their ability to take care of themselves.
The key driver in this conversation is the ability of an individual to make good health decisions. With the rise of social media and the e-Patient movement, patients are given the opportunity to be proactive with their health, and ultimately become more engaged in health decisions.
“The PC has improved the world in just about every area you can think of. Amazing developments in communications, collaboration and efficiencies. New kinds of entertainment and social media. Access to information and the ability to give a voice people who would never have been heard.” – Bill Gates
With this paradigm shift comes with many positive components, but nevertheless carries disadvantages as well (such as non-expert medical diagnoses on the Internet). However, trying to stop change is like trying to tell the public not to eat chocolate. It is a futile effort considering that a third of American adults use the Internet as a diagnostic tool. I contend that physicians and other healthcare practitioners should embrace the e-Patient movement and become a part of it.
As health experts, practitioners carry weight with their words and have the capability to mold the future paradigm. Their role would not be dispensing cut-and-dry medical advice; after all, you cannot ignore medicolegal liability and pathology complexity. Rather, it could be to join online communities and rally them toward safer ways of technology utilization.
Furthermore, doctors could be proactive online to dispel health myths, and redirect individuals to a reliable source of information. Google’s Knowledge Graph initiative is a perfect example of this on a large scale. Doctors partnered with the search engine corporation to compile, curate, and review information that would be conveniently displayed to patrons who search for health material. This new, accurate standard of information can adjust for the dynamic nature of medicine, and stands to improve the public’s access to reliable medical information.
Sources:
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2014/02/physicians-ready-epatient-movement.html
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/09/epatients-expert-diseases.html
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/05/give-medical-advice-twitter.html
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/06/health-information-online-trust-doctor.html
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/02/dr-google-tips-patients-diagnose-online.html
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/03/guiding-patients-online-physician-responsibility-digital-age.html
http://33charts.com/2015/02/google-health-knowledge-engine.html