Physicians and Blogging

Recently I came across this simple piece of advice in an infographic on OnStartups

"To be understood write a Blog, to be ignored write a Business Plan". A simple way to explain why blogging is and will be around.

A blog is basically an online journal wherein you can digitally pen down your thoughts, ideas, opinions and practically anything that you want people to read.

Like a journal, one can write their daily adventures, sentiments, and whatever ideas they want to express online.

Blogs are not a "one size fit all" concept, its more of a "This is what I feel" concept.. Given that, its no surprise that Blogs come in different types, styles and formats depending on the author/s.

Some bloggers write personal stories, some share poems, while some talk about their thoughts and ideas. Some share images, videos and audio, while some are simple text.

Instead of writing texts, some bloggers choose to make their blogs more audio friendly, by publishing their ideas as audio podcasts. This is called audio blogging.

So why should a Physican blog? What can a Physician Blog about ?

Physicians as professionals, learn something unique and interesting everyday. They should blog because they have experiences which are fascinating and stories which are unique; that people want to hear. They should blog so that medical students and the younger upcoming physicians learn from their experiences. They should blog because if they don't, they will be wasting an opportunity that is available today to archive the information they possess.

 

A Physician can blog to educate, to share their vision, to market themselves and their practices, or simply show that they have a human side ...

A Blog can help you build a physicians online presence faster than any other method today. Its the natural extension to a website and due to its sticky nature, helps create an engaging presence

A Few Popular Blogs by Physicians (Just a few  from then ones we read regularly)

http://dinosaurmusings.wordpress.com/

http://drwes.blogspot.com/

http://cacocog.blogspot.com/

http://casesblog.blogspot.com/

http://angrydr.blogspot.com/

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/

http://doctordavidsblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.docisinblog.com/

http://blog.drmalpani.com/

http://ohiosurgery.blogspot.com/

http://33charts.com/

http://uncommonstudentmd.com/

http://gruntdoc.com/

http://drhelen.blogspot.com/

Feel free to post your blogs in the comments sections below.
If you'd need any help setting up blogs for yourself, please let us know. We'll be Happy to Help


Happy #hcsm via @TechnicalDr and @nrip

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Physicians on Facebook - Do's and Dont's for #hcsm

So finally Social Media has hit the spot with doctors. Its the first form of technology which Doctors have adopted worldwide on their own( without pressure, incentives or kickbacks.)

Recent statistics show that while 87% of the physicians surveyed reported using Social media for personal purposes, a significant 67% also claimed to be using it for Professional use. Social Media has ushered healthcare into an exciting world of free expression and multi faceted communication

There have also been some unfortunate cases coming to light, where doctors have been penalized for overdoing it on Social Media. Also 45 % of the organizations surveyed claimed to have no policy for Social Media. In this article we'll look at some do's and don'ts for Physicians so that they can use Facebook safely and not let it cause legal problems for themselves in the future.

1. Don't talk about your Patients - Talk about yourself, your cases, your peers ... But don't talk about your patients. Their privacy is protected by law ...

2. When you talk about yourself, your cases and your peers, make sure you are not identifying your patients

3. Dont practice medicine from inside Social Networks. Avoid the common traps of responding to medical questions.

4. Try to avoid getting drawn into negative discussions on a public forum. On facebook you can hold a private discussion with a colleague on "How you feel your hospital needs to improve ?" in the privacy of personal messages and chats ... Avoid this on your wall..

5. Try to create a facebook page for yourself or your practice. With this in place, you can avoid having to accept friend requests from patients, redirecting them instead to like your page.

6. Dont post objectionable content. Physician or not, inebriated pictures and vulgar comments are not cool. Even if they seem to be for a particular phase in life.

7. When something objectionable is posted, accept it , apologize for it and remove it.

8. Set your Privacy Settings on various networks appropriately to safeguard your information and content. This helps you protect yourself when Rule No 1 is crossed.

DO have fun, be transparent and DO voice your views. DO  provide tips on where to gain trustworthy information online and offline , DO make connections but make sure you follow the above 8 points.

Happy #hcsm via @TechnicalDr and @nrip

N.B A Wonderful Article with Do's and Don'ts for Nurses using Social Media are available at http://www.nursezone.com/nursing-news-events/more-news/The-Dos-and-Don%E2%80%99ts-of-Social-Media-for-Nurses_36754.aspx

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How Practices can benefit from Text Messaging

People consider SMS's (Text Messaging) as the most convenient form of keeping in touch with the people around them. It is no surprise then that Text Messaging has been found to be the most liked feature on mobile phones. An affordable option for keeping in touch, Text Messaging can help healthcare immensely.

Some simple ways by which Text Messaging helps practices provide better patient care:

- Reminding Patients regarding Appointments and Lab Tests.

- Infant immunization alerts for parents

- Blood donor information and alerts

- Medication Alerts for Patients

- Diet and Exercise Alerts to ensure adherence for Patients

- Health Insurance claims update

- Messages to wish discharged patients

- Instant provision of information 24/7 via a 2 way SMS service

By using Text Messaging effectively, practices can also improve internal productivity and tighten their internal workflows. Ways in which Text Messaging helps Practice Productivity:

- Daily provision of Stock related information and special alerts on insufficient stock of items allows store managers and pharmacies to keep on top of their inventory

- Alert Messages to inform Technicians of maintenance Schedules

- Regular Shift wise schedules to staff

- Daily Message with Summary of financials to management staff

- Instant message to duty staff in case of emergencies

- Message to confirm appointment with a doctor / dentist

- End of day consultation summary

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Terminologies profiling IT usage within Healthcare

Health Telematics
Health Telematics is a composite term for health-related activities, services and systems, carried out over a distance by means of information and communications technologies, for the purposes of global health promotion, disease control, and health care, as well as education, management, and research for health.


eHealth
E-health is the combined use in the health sector of electronic communication and information technology (digital data transmitted, stored and retrieved electronically) for clinical, education and administrative purposes, both at the local site and at a distance.

mHealth
mHealth (also written as m-health or mobile health) is a term used for the practice of medicine and public health, supported by mobile devices. The term is most commonly used in reference to using mobile communication devices, such as mobile phones, tablet computers and PDAs, for health services and information. The mHealth field has emerged as a sub-segment of eHealth

Telemedicine
The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by health care professionals using information and communications technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interest of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.

Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that can be created, gathered, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff within one health care organization.

Electronic Health Record (EHR)
An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that conforms to nationally recognized interoperability standards and that can be created, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff across more than one health care organization.

Personal Health Record (PHR)
An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that conforms to nationally recognized interoperability standards and that can be drawn from multiple sources while being managed, shared, and controlled by the individual.

Health Information Exchange (HIE)
Health information exchange (HIE) is the electronic movement of health-related information among organizations according to nationally recognized standards. It refers to the process of reliable and interoperable electronic health-related information sharing conducted in a manner that protects the confidentiality, privacy, and security of the information.

Integrated EHR
This refers to an EHR that is integrated with practice management software. Typical choices include purchasing a fully integrated product which performs all the functions of practice management software, or a stand-alone EHR which is compatible with an existing practice management system.

Disclaimer: The definitions have been used as is from multiple sources.

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