Each day millions of pieces of information are shared over social platforms. There are over 400 million Tweets and 2.5 billion items shared on Facebook each day – and these are just two of many social networks. Healthcare has not ignored this shift to social and is working towards integrating these various networking channels with health information to lead to a healthier population. Our new Perficient Perspective, “The Driving Force of Social Media in Healthcare,” gives insight on the increasingly social world of healthcare from practicing physician and Perficient director Dr. Marcie Stoshak-Chavez.
Marcie answers several timely questions on how social media can be a boon to providers, how it has had an effect on communication between physicians and patients, and how doctors can use social networking to their advantage. There are many different aspects of healthcare that can be tied to social media and patient engagement, including telehealth, remote monitoring, and the quantified self. Marcie’s unique role as both a practicing physician and a business consultant allows her to see these variations on traditional care from both sides of the fence.
A video series with Perficient’s Martin Sizemore gives additional thoughts on driving patient engagement through social media and networking. Knowing your audience and tailoring the delivery is key, and knowing which technologies healthcare organizations should be focusing on to communicate with patients will be critical. Meaningful use requirements are spurring patient engagement by using patient portals, mobile phones, and remote monitoring to engage patients and lower costs. Mobile phones are also making self-tracking quicker, easier, and more interactive, which can be leveraged for preventative health measures. These preventative health measures can be used towards population health management, along with online communities for chronic condition support.
View the Perficient Perspective with Marcie and Martin here.
