HS 4120- Episode 8

• What is Medicine? (Todd, n.d.)


  “The practice concerned with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease”
• What is Medicine? (Trimble, 2016)


  “A vocation in which a doctor’s knowledge, clinical skill, and judgment are put in the service of protecting and restoring human well -being. This purpose is realized though a partnership between patient and doctor, one based on mutual respect, individual responsibility and appropriate accountability”
• What is Medicine? (Panda, 2006)

  “Medicine is both an art and a science. Both are interdependence and inseparable, just like two sides of a coin. The importance of the art of medicine is because we have to deal with a human being, his or her [or their] body, mind and soul. To be a good medical practitioner, one has to become a good artist with sufficient knowledge”
• What is Medicine?

  Health Care

  • Allied Health
  • Audiology/Speech Pathology
  • Chiropractic
  • Dentistry
  • Genetic Counseling
  • Gerontology & Aging
  • Health Management, Policy & Consulting
  • Mental Health
  • Nursing
  • Nutrition & Dietetics
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Optometry
  • Physical Therapy
• Social Media is Transforming Medicine and Health Care

  • The role of the Internet in communication and information management has been becoming increasingly important for the last few years in medicine and healthcare
  • Medical professionals are natural communicators
  • Patients
  • Peers
  • Information
  • Medical professionals must acquire new skills related to digital technologies
• Social Media is Transforming Medicine and Health Care

  Medicine 2.0: Usually associated with communication among medical professionals

  
  

  Health 2.0: More about web tools used in health care

  
  

  Apomediation: The process during which health professionals act as gatekeepers for patients in order to identify trustworthy and credible medical information and services online
• Social Media is Transforming Medicine and Health Care

  Studies have shown that the use of social media may be efficient for physicians in the follow ways:

  1. To keep up-to-date
  2. To share newly acquired medical knowledge with other physicians within the medical community
  3. Improve the quality of patient care
• Examples of Using Social Media in Medicine

  • A video channel on YouTube for streaming interviews and other videos
  • A Twitter account for keeping in touch with peers worldwide through short messages
  • A blog for publishing updates
  • An RSS reader to keep yourself easily up-to-date
  • Being active in a medical community site to get feedback about specific cases
  • Using medical search engines as experts to get the information we need quickly
  • Listening to podcasts while waiting in line or in a traffic jam
• Assessing the Quality of Medical Websites and Platforms

  • Medical professionals have to learn to assess the quality of medical websites and other online platforms
  • Medical professionals should also be able to “prescribe information” for their patients in an evidence-based manner
  • “Information therapy” could improve patient knowledge, decisions making, and communication
  • Patients that received “prescribed information therapy” from their primary care physicians were reported to have a high level of satisfaction with their care, improved health status, and compliance with prescriptions
• Assessing the Quality of Medical Websites and Platforms


  • Contact information of the authors
  • The blog has a title, optionally a sub-title and a description of the mission of the site
  • Description of the author or authors with work address and affiliation
  • Archives represent a long-time commitment to providing information online but does not ensure high quality
• Assessing the Quality of Medical Websites and Platforms


  • The availability of a properly formatted RSS feed and numerous feed readers is a good sign
  • Privacy policy is a legal document that describes the ways the website or platform owners gather, use, disclose, and manage a customer or reader’s data
  • Disclaimer; Statements, Facts, and Data; HIPAA; Certifications
• The World of e-Patients

  E-Patients (Internet Patients): Are health consumers using the Internet and digital technologies for gathering information about a medical condition or treatment

  • Research has shown that e-patients have better health information and services, and different (but not always better) relationships with their doctors
• Basic Features of an e-Patient

  • Equipped with the skills to manage their own condition
  • Enabled to make choices about self-care
  • Empowered to make decisions together with their medical professionals
  • Engaged in their own care
  • Equals in their partnerships with the medical professionals involved in their care
  • Emancipated
  • Experts of their own condition
• Establishing a Medical Blog

  • A blog is a website with regular entries of commentary or other materials such as graphics or video displayed in a reverse chronological order
  • Medical professionals can express opinions or commentaries on their blogs that they could never do in official or scientific channels
  • The quality of a blog can be assessed by numerous features
  • Contact details
  • Author Information
  • Blog description
  • Archive
  • Privacy policy
  • Medical disclaimer
• Types of Blogs

  
  

  Type / Focus or special feature / example

  
  

  Photoblog / photos / www.dianevarner.com

  Personal blog / personal life / theinterpreterdiaries.com

  Group blog / The blog has several authors / www.medgadget.com

  Company blog / The blog is the company’s channel / www.blogsouthwest.com

  Videoblog (vlog)/Videos / coachtvblog.com

  Tematic blog / Specific topics / streetanatomy.com
• The Medical Blogosphere


  • All stakeholders of healthcare can write blogs and present their own areas, research topics or job experience from their own perspectives
• The Medical Blogosphere

  • After a few years of blogging, blog carnivals were created in order to select the most important blog entries about a particular topic every week on one selected blog
  • The original and still ongoing blog carnival is called Grand Rounds and features medical blogs in any relevant topics
  • Other blog carnivals were also launched later such as Gene Genie in genetics or Medicine 2.0 in digital communication
  • The majority of blog carnivals were transformed into microblogs from 2011
• Examples of Different Kinds of Medical Blogs


  • Nurse blog --> www.codeblog.com
  • Doctor blog --> www.familymedicinerocks.com
  • Medical student blog --> internal-optimist.blogspot.com
  • Medical lawyer blog --> lawmedconsultant.com
  • Hospital manager blog --> runningahospital.blogspot.com
  • Medical librarian blog --> laikaspoetnik.wordpress.com
  • Patient blog --> sixuntilme.com
• The Role of Twitter and Microblogging in Medicine

  Twitter

  • Launched in 2006 by Jack Dorsey
  • The basic idea was to create the short message service (SMS) of the Internet
  • The most prominent example of microblogging
  • Social networking service that enables users to send and read messages (Tweets) of up to 140 characters
  • The hashtag (#) is used to tag messages with topics such as #meded for medical educational
  • Over 500 million users generating over 340 millions messages (as of 2013)
• Potential Uses of Twitter in Medicine and Healthcare

  • Public health organizations send alerts about disasters and health issues
  • Drug safety alerts and announcements from FDA
  • Supportive care for patients
  • Live tweeting during medical conferences
  • Staying up-to-date
  • Hospitals using it for keeping in touch with patients
  • Hospitals tweeting live during operations
  • Crowdsourcing a diagnosis
  • Tracking the spread of disease in real time
  • Organizing medical tweetchats such as #medlib
  • Following users who can filter news in a specific field of interest
• Examples of the Different Types of Twitter Accounts

  Organizations --> WHOnews

  Doctors --> Kevinmd

  Medical journals --> nejm

  Hospitals --> mayoclinic

  Patients --> sixuntilme
• Organizing Medical Events in Virtual Environments

  • Virtual environments have been used in cases when geographical limitations did not make real world meetings possible
  • The combination of a community, learning materials, simulations, and methods for communication can add up as a virtual environment
  • Virtual reality (VR) is a term applying to computer-simulated environment that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as imaginary worlds
• Second Life

  • Launched in 2003
  • Over 20 millions users (as of 2013)
  • One of the most popular virtual worlds
  • Users are presented as avatars and use different methods for communication
  • Among the various activities offered in Second Life, avatars can socialize with others and create educational materials
• Examples of Using Second Life in Medicine

  • Ann Myers Medical Center
  • Heart Murmur Sim
  • SciFoo Lives On
  • Genome Island
  • HealthInfo Island
• E-Mails and Privacy Concerns


  Email is only one form of communication with potential legal problems, but there are other platforms and resources in which private patient information can accidentally be shared or inappropriate content can be published
• E-Mails and Privacy Concerns Examples


  • Sharing a case in a blog or in a Twitter message by mentioning identifiers described in the HIPAA act
  • Sharing medical images without hiding sensitive patient information
  • Publishing photos in social networking sites with alcohol or other inappropriate materials
  • Mixing personal and professional profiles and/or public opinions
  • Inappropriate prescribing and contact with patients online
  • Misinterpretation of credentials or clinical results
• E-Mails and Privacy Concerns

  • In order to avoid problems with privacy, certain aspects should always be kept in mind such as the protection of the privacy and confidentiality of patients, avoiding requests for online medical advice, acting with professionalism in every online activity and being aware of potential conflicts of interest, as well as that information posted online may be available to anyone and could be misconduct

  Farris Timimi, M.D.

  • Don’t lie
  • Don’t pry
  • Don’t cheat
  • Can’t delete
  • Don’t steal, and give credit where it’s due
  • Don’t reveal confidential information