physician use of social media
TRANSCRIPT
Digital Doctoring and Healthy Communication
Matthew Katz, MD
May 19, 2016
Physician Use of Social Media
Disclosure
• Founder/owner, nonprofit RadiationNation.com
• Volunteer for • Massachusetts Medical Society• American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)• American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
Social Media in Medicine
• Many want to know how to:• Enhance reputation• Get relevant information• Grow your practice• Collaborate, learn• Minimize/avoid risk
• Start instead with:• Who am I?• Why do I want to communicate?
Know the Rules First
Know Who You Are• Decide comfort level being
public• As a non-professional person• As a health professional• As a citizen
• Start conservatively• Learn the rules of each road you choose• Start in the parking lot, not the highway
• Build skills• Art and science of digital communication
Medicine 5.0 – Millennia of Healing
v. Era Example Divine Healer/Wounded Dyad
Knowledge Scientific Method
1.0 Prehistoric Shaman + +2.0 400 B.C. Galen + + +3.0 18th-19th c. Virchow + + +4.0 20th Osler + +5.0 21st ? + + +
Professionals are increasingly interactive intermediaries in health
Hippocrates
“I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury or wrong-doing”
“Into whatsoever houses I enter, I will enter to help the sick”
Maimonides
“Grant me the strength, time and opportunity always to correct what I have acquired, always to extend its domain; for knowledge is immense and the spirit of man can extend indefinitely to enrich itself daily with new requirements.”
Hippocrates
“I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury or wrong-doing”
“Into whatsoever houses I enter, I will enter to help the sick”
Maimonides
“Grant me the strength, time and opportunity always to correct what I have acquired, always to extend its domain; for knowledge is immense and the spirit of man can extend indefinitely to enrich itself daily with new requirements.”
Your oath holds true online, onwhatsoever platform you extend your domain
Representing the Profession
Am I My Colleague’s Keeper?
What the public expects
Mr. John Doe ( General Manager )
• Professionalism based upon• Quality as clinician• Workmanship• Citizenship
• Doctors expected to be• Confident• Reliable• Composed• Accountable• Dedicated
Source: Chandratilake et al, Clin Med 2010
Risks in Clinical Practice Patients/Caregivers
• Misinformation• Loss of privacy• Psychologic
amplification
Professionals• Professional harm• Patient harm• Psychological harm
Public Medicine: Scalable Good or Harm
Bik HM, Goldstein MS. PLOS Biol 2013
Flexner Mentality= Dangerous
SOURCE: Simon Wardley, blog.gardeviance.org
M.D. = Master Dilettante• Able, not ‘expert’
• Absorb and synthesize information, research• Apply evidence to needs, values of each patient• Free from false expectation of omniscience
• Better communication • Listening, understanding essential• Skills can be learned for clinic and online
Start with Why
Where People Share Their Care
Why Doctors Need to Be Online
• Patients and caregivers are increasingly online, seeking help and support
• If clinicians don’t engage online, expect more influence on health decisions by
• Peers and family• Fearmongerers, opportunists• Industry (Direct-to-consumer)
What patients and doctors deserve
Mr. John Doe ( General Manager )
Source: subatomicdoc, Flickr.com
Any social media tool should improve or preserve this covenant
WHO Definition of Health
Health includes yours
Doctor’s Hierarchy of Needs
Source: subatomicdoc, flickr.com
Define Your Purpose
Why you are online determines
• How you want to contribute• Where to go• What skills you will need
Which One Are You?
Separate Medicine and Business
• Be the professional• Coordinate with practice, hospital to do
the marketing
Have a Social Media Policy
Your staff, colleagues affect your reputation
• How you want to contribute• Where to go• What skills you will need
GoalsPurpose Example
Patient Care Best Practices
Learn From Patients
Enhance Career Education
Reputation Management
Networking
Job Opportunity
Teaching Medical education
Research/Academics
Advocacy Fundraising
Collaboration
Public education
VAK Learning StylesPlatform Visual
See/ReadAuditory
Listen/SpeakKinestheticTouch/Do
Blogs X
Twitter X X
Facebook X
LinkedIn X
Instagram/Pinterest X
Tumblr X X X
YouTube/Vimeo X
Google + X X X
Adapted from: Meredith Gould, The Social Media Gospel
You are what you
Surf Search Share
Source: flowingdata.com
Professional = Patient Privacy
If in doubt, HIPAA applies
Act Like It’s Permanent
“Be nicer online than you are offline”
Respect and Dignity
Engage, but don’t ‘friend’ or ‘link’ to your patients
Maintain Boundaries
• Applies especially to Facebook
• Know and periodically review privacy settings
Transparency of Intent
Reputation = EMR
JoinPost
Network
Establish Monitor Respond
ListenWatch
‘Read the Room’
CalmAccountable
ReliableEmpathic
Hang your digital shingle
• Get a website domain with your name and your brand
• Brands may fail, but save a place for you to tell your story and achievements
• Build a “moat” to defend your reputation
http://www.matthewkatzmd.com
Type into domain registrar searchHyperText Transfer Protocol
Establish, Track Yourself• Pick a professional
‘handle’• Non-anonymous• Join multiple platforms to protect
your ‘brand’
• Monitor• Google Alerts• Physician rating sites
• Can’t eliminate the negative• Accentuate/amplify the positive
Starting social media services*
Sign up
Explore
settings
Lurk Interact Lead
* Applies to most platforms
Medicolegal Risks
Mr. John Doe ( General Manager )
• Consider your online presence discoverable• By institution, professional society
• Social media policy for your practice
• Want to keep your staff aware, accountable
• Described in MMS Guidelines
Conclusion
Mr. John Doe ( General Manager )
• Ethics before mechanics• Why you do it drives how you will do it
• Use Digital Tools, Don’t Be One
• More Research Needed
Questions?
Mr. John Doe ( General Manager )
Look at MMS Physicians’ Guide at massmed.org
Contact me at:@subatomicdoc [Twitter]
www.subatomicdoc.com