Guest posting by Sonali Mahendran
You’ve been meeting with the same family physician for several years now. You feel that your doctor considers you, your lifestyle, and your cultural background when discussing healthcare options and prescribing medication. You become comfortable enough with your doctor to share your concerns and ask questions; sometimes you share more personal information than you would with any another healthcare provider.
You feel so close to your physician that you find yourself trying to ‘friend’ your physician on Facebook. Days go by, and you find that your physician has declined your invitation. How would you feel? Rejected? Let down? Suspicious? Or, do you understand his situation and let it pass?
PC: Hands on Telehealth
In 2012, one-third of physicians surveyed, according to “Hands on Telehealth”, said that a patient attempted to ‘friend’ them on Facebook. And three-quarters of these physicians declined or ignored these invitations, while the rest accepted them.
And, as you can imagine, there are reasons for this. The AMA guidelines state that physicians should maintain “appropriate boundaries of the patient-physician relationship” and also suggests that they “consider separating personal and professional content online”. Overstepping these boundaries may raise ethical questions about the relationship between patients and their providers. This relationship may take the professionalism out of healthcare. From the perspective of the healthcare provider, social media opens the floor for negative attacks and comments. It can threaten the privacy and security of organizations. Social media has the potential to negatively impact both the patient and the provider; the physician may inappropriately share confidential information about their patients or their organization. And thus, physicians are becoming hermits in their own fields of expertise; they’re barring themselves from the important things that they can say and the positive impacts they can have on their community.
You’ve seen the negative aspects of social media. But it’s important to realize that healthcare providers can benefit the community through social media, as well. Primarily, they have the opportunity to educate patients worldwide, whether it be through Facebook, YouTube, Google+, blogs, or Twitter. They create an opportunity for themselves to improve their communication with patients.
Healthcare providers have tried several methods, and yet communication between physicians and patients continues as an ongoing problem. Providers struggle to cater their advice and information to a diverse group of patients, yet fail. It’s because every individual is different. And that then raises a question; isn’t it more efficient to alter providers’ behaviors than try and change or cater to such a diverse group of patients? What if physicians started posting their information in ways that follow the current trend, like Buzzfeeds? Authors could use striking titles and bold and bullet key points to reach the tech-savvy teen and middle-age population. We quickly realize that, then, we’ve left out the non-tech-savvy. This loop becomes increasingly obvious as we tinker with the ways that physicians publicize the information and advice they wish to share. Social media has potential to serve as an effective communication platform for physicians as they become aware and efficient with their communication.
We can empathize with our physicians who are afraid to contribute to social media, but not long after, we begin to suspect that they’re hiding or avoiding something. We fly into the arms of another physician who seems more open, in social media terms.
In today’s world, social media is not only influential in determining a physician’s competency, but is becoming prevalent in the broader field of healthcare as e-patients emerge. Providers must step up and wield this weapon, knowing that there’s risk in both using and avoiding it.
Inspired by Hands on Telehealth: