Tag: social media in healthcare

Social media profiles and industry guidelines for Healthcare Professionals
(Note: This post is also published at HealthXPh.net )

Two years ago, only a few healthcare professionals are using social media. Not so these days. The rule is , if you’re not on social media, you are the “exception”.

The growing popularity of social media and smartphone brought innovations in healthcare. Healthcare became “social”. The classic patient- provider relationship grew into networks or communities of collaborating patients, providers and healthcare institutions. Social media provided additional tools and avenues for learning diseases, get psychosocial support or spread advocacies.

But the ease of sharing in social media placed “privilege” healthcare information at risk of being “leaked” into public space. The ramifications of such breach in patient privacy and confidentiality is still isn’t fully understood. What is clear is it violates the patients rights and does not look very good for the healthcare provider. Thus the concern now is shifting from just “access”, to responsible use of social media.

How do we then evaluate if any social media post violates patient privacy? How does the post breaches the confidentiality clause inherent in patient- provider relationship? In the Philippines, the lack of social media guidelines (self or institutionally driven) creates confusion. (Note: It is for this reason that #HealthXPh spearheaded and is continually advocating a crowd sourced Social Media and Medical Professionalism Manifesto. You should sign here if you support this advocacy too!)

I once asked a provider his reaction to a negative comment about a seemingly “innocuous”, run of the mill work scene (an OR picture with the patient’s belly inside the picture) he posted in his facebook timeline. His answer is classic:

“It’s my personal account anyway. I can do whatever I want there. Besides, the privacy settings are strictly limited to my friends only. “

There is confusion on what constitute private space on social media. Also, many believe (though I probably could not prove this now) there’s a dichotomy between “personal” and “professional” social media profiles. There are still HCPs believing one profile does not overlap each other even though both represent only one and the same person.

We at #HealthXPh would like to move forward the discussion of medical professionalism and social media guidelines in the Philippines. The healthcare social media manifesto is a work in progress. We are asking for your opinion. Join us this Saturday April 25, 2015 9:00 PM Manila time, as we discuss healthcare social media profiles and industry guidelines.
- T1: Should personal social media accounts of HCPs be exempted from social media policy or guidelines?
- T2: Who do you think should enforce healthcare social media guidelines?Government? HCP governing bodies, like PMA, PNA? Why?
- T3: Will social media policy stifle the use of social media in healthcare? If yes, how?
April 25, 2015
Here’s why healthcare professionals should be on social media
Should healthcare professionals be on social media?

I’ve been asked this question countless times before and answered it in several forums. I said YES healthcare professionals should be cautiously on social media in last year’s Philippine College of Physicians convention (Facebook for physicians; Use, Misuse, Abuse, Confused) . I said YES, HCPs should be on social media responsibly on #healthXPh‘s regular twitter chat (post and the chat transcript ) and recently, I answered a resounding YES, HCPs should be on social media, when an audience asked a similar question during the Healthcare Social Media Summit 2015 (#hcsmPH)  in Cebu.

Before explaining my answer, let me digress a bit and explore the reason why healthcare professionals are NOT on social media.

I asked a physician in the Philippines why he is not on social media (as a physician). This physician has a huge private practice and is a consultant in some well known healthcare institutions in a city. He answered me this:

“I don’t want to be known as a physician on social media. I’m pretty scared of what get posted on my profile.  It might backfire on me. Anybody can throw malicious comments on me, or hack my account and wreak havoc on my profile! My healthcare institution also forbid us to post anything related to work without clearing it from them first. Healthcare is my work so I need to ask them first every time I post on social media! That’s crazy! Besides, I was quite successful with my practice without social media, why would I need one now?”

Such is a classic answer from a professional working in a highly regulated industry. Physicians and lawyers are examples of people working in a highly regulated industry. Highly regulated industries like law and healthcare have strict privacy and confidentially rules governing sharing of information . The ease of sharing private and confidential information on social media is what healthcare professionals and healthcare institutions is apprehensive about. This distrust for social media and the people using it stem from some well known misconceptions about social media.

Social media is person to person (P2P)

That social media is just for marketing, branding and showing off is not true. Social media is a person to person (P2P) network. We tend to forget that both ends of social media conversations and networks are people. We connect with people and build networks tru social media, just like what we do everyday, even at work.  It is interesting to note that in highly regulated industries like healthcare, we service people! How can healthcare miss the world of social media then if we are to service real people or connect with them?

This is one very good point from Mark Schaefer (@markschaefer) in his book Tao of Twitter. Highly regulated industries allows the people in it to attend conventions, workshops, seminars etc. What do they do in those events? Meet like minded people, learn from industry experts, expand networks, sometimes build brands, market etc. All of these we can do in social media too, often without leaving the comforts of our home or the workplace.

So why are healthcare professionals missing the world of social media? Apprehensions? Misconceptions?

Social media is public space, no matter how private your settings are.

“I have social media profiles but its personal and secret to only a few friends.” Added my friend above. He has a social media account after all, only that it is a personal, “private” account. A word of caution about privacy settings. In the evolving social media and digital world, any post on internet particularly on social media, is a post on public space. What you privately post now, will come out on public searches tomorrow.

So while my physician friend is on social media (albeit privately), why is he still missing out a lot on the power of social media in healthcare? Remember, humans are basically social. Social media as it is evolving right now is really a person to person conversation, human connections. Therefore, authenticity is an important value.

That’s why I’m advocating HCPs should be on social media (if they’re not yet on it) and act as they would do daily, at work, when you connect with people or talk to them. That is with authenticity as a healthcare professional. Social media should just be an extension of your offline pprofession and you should act like one, accordingly.

Note: To guide healthcare professionals, how to act on social media, #HealthXPh summed up a crowdsource social media manifesto for healthcare professionals and publish it here. Sign to show support!

Again, I say yes, healthcare professionals should be in social media. What we do at work- “authentic helpfulness” ( to borrow @markschaefer term), talking to real people, of building networks and learning from our patients and colleagues, social media has an entire world of new tools to enhance this. That’s never been for show off in the first place!

Resources:
April 18, 2015
Social Media Usage Survey among Filipino Physicians

[quote]We are the social media capital of the world. We have the fastest internet and mobile phone penetrations and yet, we don’t know what are we using social media for?[/quote]

In the last five years, internet usage in the Philippines has grown tremendously to 531% from a mere 2% in 2008. That figure is the highest in SouthEast Asia and one of the highest in the world. Mobile phone penetration also topped a whooping 107% in 2012. The most recent survey by GlobalWebIndex also found the Philippines to lead the world in social media engagement. Facebook remains the social media platform of choice for Filipinos with 92.2% penetration, but Twitter, Youtube and other social media platforms is catching up.

Despite this mind boggling usage growth, internet penetration is a shy 36% in 2012 and mobile smartphone penetration at a meek 15% in September of 2013. There are many assumptions on what the Filipinos are using the social media for but specific statistics remains elusive. Are we using social media for personal, entertainment or to socialize? We don’t know, as of yet. I am not yet talking about social media healthcare but the answer should be a louder “we don’t know, yet!” .

The thing is, social media’s fast becoming a platform for healthcare engagement in developed nations. Take a look at this infographic in the US.

Infographic from HCSM monitor website (http://hcsmmonitor.com/2013/12/20/how-did-doctors-use-social-media-in-2013/)

We are the social media capital of the world. We have the fastest internet and mobile phone penetrations and yet, we don’t know for sure how we are using social media for.

This is why collaborators at #healthxph initiated this survey to document the social media usage among Filipino Physicians. Healthxph is a collaborative platform for community of Filipino physicians discussing the use of emerging technologies and social media in healthcare. We need to get the pulse of the physician community and come up with a strategy to effect change on our healthcare system vis-a vis, social media.

This our plea to our colleagues in the medical profession.

Please answer this Social Media Survey Usage of Filipino Physicians. It will take less than 5 minutes of your internet time. All data gathered in this survey will remain confidential except for the demographics which might be used, for academic purposes. Identities of those surveyed will remain anonymous and private unless explicit consent from individual owners that their social media accounts be opened to public.

At the end of the survey, demographic results will be emailed to all who participated in the study and will be posted at healthxph.net

Resources

As the internet turns 25, China has 2.5 times more users than US
http://blog.globalwebindex.net/internet-turns-25

Mobile Penetration in Southeast Asia: 2013 Data Roundup
http://www.tigermine.com/2013/12/12/mobile-penetration-southeast-asia-2013-data-round/

Global Map of Social Networking 2011
https://globalwebindex.net/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/06/Global-Map-of-Social-Networking-GlobalWebIndex-June-20112.pdf

Social, Digital and Mobile: Philippines
http://wearesocial.net/blog/2012/01/social-digital-mobile-philippines/

PH Internet audience growth fastest in Southeast Asia
http://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/technology/35384-philippine-internet-audience-growth-comscore

HOW DID DOCTORS USE SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2013?

How Did Doctors Use Social Media In 2013?

April 1, 2014
What’s your manifesto as a patient on Social Media? #HealthXPh Feb 22 Tweetchat and HOA

One request I often get from tech and social media savvy patients is this, “Doc, can I add you as my friend on Facebook?”.

My reply is something like this : “ No, I don’t add patients as friends on facebook, but you can communicate with me on my professional facebook page”. I sometimes draw flak on this social media policy but as I’ve mentioned in our last #HealthXPh tweet chat and Hangout On Air (Social Media and Medical Professionalism: A manifesto from #HealthXPh) this is the best setup for me and my patients so far.

I do realize though that patients probably wanted a social media manifesto of their own, just like their physicians. This manifesto empowers patient to “own up” their health and bring health care conversations to their level.

To refresh, a manifesto as defined by Merriam-Webster.com, is :

a written statement that describes the policies, goals, and opinions of a person or group.

A social media manifesto self commits an individual- a patient or a healthcare professional, how he/she intends to behave on the different social media platforms. We at #HealthXPh believe a manifesto is different from a guideline. A guideline is enforced by a governing body based on existing laws and policies. In the Philippines, we don’t have healthcare social media laws or governing bodies yet. A manifesto is more powerful because it’s an expression of what an individual or group’s intends to do on social media.

If you are a patient and wanted to join the conversation on patient’s social media manifesto, join us this Saturday February 22, 2014 10:00 AM Philippine Standard Time (UTC + 8 ) on #HealthXPh tweet chat and Hangout On Air.

February 21, 2014
How to start (or join) a Google+ Hangout On Air
(This is a three part mini series by the author on Google+ ‘s Hangout on Air. The first part explains why #HealthXPh chose Hangout On Air as a platform for its online conversations. The second part is a mini how-to, to help out healthcare advocates set up their own HOA. The third part will deal on HOA etiquette which we hopefully would incorporate on future HOA)

We’ve been using twitter (tweet chat) and Hangout On Air (HOA) for our online conversations here at #HealthXPh. So far, it’s been a fun and learning experience for us. The thing is, there’s just five of us who have joined the #HealthXPh HOA. The rest I supposed, are lurking on the the youtube feed. Why?

Setting up an HOA or joining one is a bit frustrating sometimes. The technical aspect repels most people. I remember starting a live HOA before, with just me on it. I couldn’t find the “invite” button. Well guess what?! The youtube video recorded a confused face appearing to fix something for 15 minutes. So much for the techie guy huh?

This is why I am writing an HOA mini how to. So you won’t end up looking “confused” inside an HOA! At the end of this article, I hope you try out HOA and join us in our regular #HealthXPh HOA discussions. The best way to learn new apps/tools online like Hangouts on Air is to try it out yourself.

A. What you need:
- A computer/laptop/smartphone (iOS/Android)
- A web browser (Chrome preferably) if you have a desktop/laptop or Google Plus app + Hangout plugin for smartphones
- A working webcam and headset for the video chat
B. To broadcast an HOA live (or join an HOA) you need to set up the following first. (Click the hyperlinks for help )
- A Google+ profile or page. Create one if you don’t have any. It’s comes free with your gmail account.
- A Youtube channel. Create one if you don’t have a youtube channel, then verify it using this method.
- Link your G+ profile and your Youtube channel.
C. There are two ways you can start an HOA. You can start one immediately or schedule a Hangout On Air with an event page. I recommend the later. Here are the steps you need to do: (Got these steps from this HOA help page)
1. Go to Hangouts On Air.
2. Click Start a Hangout On Air.
3. Create a name and a description in the first two boxes.
4. Choose a start time:
  - Choose Now to start the Hangout On Air immediately after you create the event page.
  - Choose Later and fill in the date and time for when you want your Hangout On Air to start.
5. Choose your audience: This is the audience that can see the Google+ event page. For maximum reach, “Public” is recommended. Adding specific people and circles ensures they receive a notification. Regardless of the audience you choose here, the Hangout On Air will be publicly viewable on YouTube.
6. Click Share to schedule your Hangout On Air.
People can RSVP to your Hangout On Air through the event page and view on multiple devices. (Remember though this does not automatically include you in the HOA during the broadcast. The even page is just an announcement page to make people aware of the scheduled HOA. The host still needs to invite you thru a video call once the HOA started.)

D. Upload a video or an image (This is an optional step, and I haven’t tried this one yet)

Once your event page has been created, you can add a video or image as a custom trailer for your Hangout On Air. If you don’t add one, your users will see a countdown clock to the event.

To add a custom video, click Add a trailer and add a YouTube video by either searching, entering a YouTube URL, or selecting a video already uploaded to your YouTube account.

To add a custom image, click Add a trailer and add an image.

E. Collect audience questions before your Hangout On Air starts

You can turn on the Q&A app from the event page to gather questions from the audience before your Hangout On Air starts and answer them during the broadcast. When you start the Hangout On Air, open the Q&A app to see the list of questions asked.

F. Start broadcasting your scheduled Hangout On Air
1. Go to your Hangout On Air event in your Google+ events page.
2. Click Start in your event.
3. Invite your participants.
4. Click Start Broadcast to go live.
Once you start your Hangout On Air, you can also add more features and apps to your Hangout On Air. Below is an example of youtube’s recording of an #HealthXPh weekly Hangout On Air:

G. How do I join an HOA?

Joining an HOA can be a bit confusing too. When someone schedules an HOA, the link created lead you to the Youtube feed, not the HOA itself. The host should create an event page first, announcing the scheduled HOA, then invite everyone to the event. This way, the potential audience will be aware of the scheduled HOA. During the actual HOA and prior to the live broadcast, the host will have to invite you again thru a video call. This has been the case for us so far. Here are the steps for joining an HOA:
1. Go to your hangout plugin and wait for a video call invite.
2. Once you receive a video call, click “join”. A pop up screen will warn you that you are joining a live broadcast. After checking the ticker that says yes, you will then be brought to the HOA screen.
3. Once inside the live HOA, check to see if your hangout apps are all working- screen share, Q&A, cameraman, mute/unmute button and your hide/unhide camera button.
4. Wait for the host/moderator to acknowledge you. It’s also good habit to check if the moderator can hear/see you.
5. Introduce yourself to the group briefly before joining any discussion.
6. Speak only when the moderator ask you to speak. Mute your mic if its not your turn to speak yet.
7. Do not open the youtube feed of the HOA together with the HOA window to prevent echoes from ruining your conversations.
Like any discussions, HOAs are moderated usually by the host. He or she has control of almost everything inside HOA. Thus, the host plays a central role that keeps the HOA lively and highly interactive. If you are invited in an HOA that would mean you can ask questions and interact with the speakers/panel at a designated time.

Thats it! In my next post, I will be suggesting HOA ground rules and etiquette. Watch out for it!
February 11, 2014