Medicine in the Age of Twitter

I blog, I tweet, and I use Facebook. I find social media to be an enormously useful tool in my work. But when I mentioned this to a medical colleague of mine, he replied, "I can barely keep up with email. I'm not about to open up that black box."

More than 60% of adults now go online for health-related information, and a majority of those individuals access social media platforms. Nonetheless, there are only a handful of articles in peer-reviewed journals and no evidence-based guidelines for clinicians to use when it comes to social media. For example, should a doctor diagnose or prescribe on Facebook or a blog? Is a doctor liable if she or he misses a patient's tweets about the acute onset of shortness of breath? 

In this week's "Doctor and Patient" column, I explore social media and the patient-doctor relationship. How should doctors and patients use blogs, twitter, and Facebook, if at all? And do they strengthen the therapeutic relationship or detract from it? 

Please leave your comments below or at Tara Parker-Pope's "Well" blog.

Comments

[Kirti Patel]

I use facebook/twitter/my blog for only personal use. In my opinion, it is important with health related stuff to keep this as personal as possible, meaning actually speaking on the phone and seeing a patient in person.

[Amy]

I just started reading your book "Final Exam" yesterday. I was wondering if doctors in other countries have as many difficulties with treating dying patients as people do in America.

I'm asking this because I can see that many Spanish/Hispanic movies show a different attitude towards death. In movies they are much more accepting of it. And funerals (in Peru) are quite different than those I have attended in the United States.
Amy

[Italian Rocket]

I'm sure that Twitter, Facebook etc are great for keeping up to date with patient relationships, the problem is that it's just another thing that you have to do, and I would guess that people are busy enough.

[Pauline Chen]

Dear Amy,

My sense is that there are variations, as doctors are influenced not only by their professional culture but also by the culture they grew up with.

All best,
Pauline