Meditations on social media
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There’s no doubt the ever-changing communications field has redefined how most people interact, whether they’re in virtual or tangible environments. While there may be an excessive number of discussions in boardrooms, blogs and Silicon Valley on how social media is shaping interpersonal communication, there’s been limited evidence on how social media may affect a physician’s workflow or access to information.
However, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospitalin Boston found that social media sites may enhance diabetes management noting that these types of network could be the future poster-children for health promotion as primary care physicians are witnessing increasing patient volume and as a web-savvy population ages and develop chronic diseases.
A report from the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) cited a 2011 Nielson and NM Incite statistic that the most popular internet destinations, social networks and blogs, account for 23 percent of total internet time. CSC concluded that organizations cannot afford a “wait-and-see” approach to social media. However, the report also pointed out that “Organizations that use social media risk losing control of their message and risk exposing themselves to privacy, security and ethics breaches."
And this makes perfect sense considering the rapid change that communications has undergone and will continue to go through. However, providers should be thinking and tinkering with social media not only to understand the environment and industry’s capabilities, but also to see what innovative information exchange may be possible when the technology is leveraged. While there is inherent resistence to change, a little exploring into uncharted territory could be a good learning opportunity.
Feel free to contact me to discuss this topic.
Jeff Byers
Content Editor, CMIO
jbyers@trimedmedia.com