Molly Merrill
Why did you start blogging and why do you think you have been so successfulI started blogging back in 2004. At that time there were less than 100 physicians blogs. I started blogging because I thought a blog was a great way to provide commentary from the physician perspective that is often lacking in news reporting today. It was after two or three years of constantly doing it that I realized it had become a powerful media to connect patients and doctors.
Physicians started to cautiously enter the social media space beginning around 2005 - most blogging anonymously - but today doctors are beginning to embrace the technology as a way to make a difference in patient education. Healthcare IT News spoke to six physicians who blog professionally and asked them questions on some hot topics around social media.
When it comes to using social media, fear of violating HIPAA rules is top of mind for physicians, but experts say if they can adhere to privacy regulations, the technology's benefits are far reaching. First, physicians should understand and know the rules concerning HIPAA, said Glen Gilmore, principal at Gilmore Business Network, a social media marketing firm, and an adjunct Instructor at Texas A&M University (NERRTC) and Rutgers University.
The increase of mobile devices, embedded devices, virtualization software, social media and the consumerization of IT are the top five security threats for healthcare organizations today, says one expert.
"Hospitals are missing their opportunity" to boost patient engagement online, says one expert, who notes that a successful Web project requires a hybrid of marketing expertise and technology.Richard Brown is a Healthcare Solutions consultant for Nashua, N.H.-based Ektron, a Web solutions provider. He shared with Healthcare IT News five ways healthcare organizations can boost online engagement.
Natural disasters are hitting the U.S. and abroad more often, it seems. In an attempt to connect after disasters hit, family, friends, rescuers, relief agencies, healthcare workers and others have turned to social media - which one expert says is the right tool for the job.
Unified communications (UC), which has become a hot issue among IT leaders and administrators, has recently been bolstered by video - and the "prognosis for its use in healthcare appears to hold promise," says one expert.
At the close of the Health Data Initiative Forum held on Thursday, Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra announced StartUp Health, a strategic initiative designed to improve access to capital, education and resources for health and wellness entrepreneurs.StartUp Health CEO Steve Krein said the initiative will be led by former Time Warner Chairman and CEO, and current Director of OrganizedWisdom, Jerry Levin.
Forty-five new and updated health applications that harness the power of open data from HHS and other sources are being presented Thursday at the 2nd Annual Health Data Initiative Forum in New York. The initiative was opened by Matt Miller, host of NPR's Left, Right & Center, who called the work being presented "the beginning of enormous sets of innovative data" being used to "touch all our lives as patients."
Virtua, the largest comprehensive healthcare system in Southern New Jersey, announced Wednesday it is offering a free online personal health record - one that its founder calls a "hybrid PHR" - to consumers living in the three counties that it serves. Virtua will offer PHRs from Princeton, N.J.-based Zweena for one year to consumers in Gloucester, Camden and Burlington counties in South Jersey.