There has been a lot of buzz around how medical device and pharmaceutical brands are starting to explore social media. To see social media in action though, you may only need to look as far as a local hospital. In the United States, there are more than 360 hospitals actively using social media tools. As a group they have 186 YouTube channels and have created 267 Twitter accounts. Some real-world examples include:
- A patient being treated for a rare carcinoid cancer shared her experience via YouTube which generated enough requests for the surgery for a hospital to open a monthly clinic for the condition.
- Children's Hospital Boston launched the first health and science blog from a pediatric hospital called Thrive.
- A hospital near Detroit used Twitter to connect with almost 2,000 people to answer questions during brain surgery on a 47-year-old patient.
To read more about how hospitals are incorporating social media and why it matters, continue here.
Photo Credit: Rose Fire Rising
Across the Internet patients are busy discussing medical procedures. PICC and port insertions, maintenance and removals are no exception. A few of the stories you might stumble upon include:
Imperfect Paradise - a blog chronicling a teenager living with Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome
Socks and Chocolate - a mom writing about her daughter who is having a PICC inserted to have IV antibiotics administered
Run Sickboy Run - follow the story of a 29 year old man with Cystic Fibrosis as he defies the odds and gets in the best shape of his life
Invasive Maneuvers - a husband chronicles is wife's battle with chronic ulcerative colitis
Sixty-Five Roses - meet Megan a 17 year old with Cystic Fibrosis who also describes her first PICC placed at age 6
My Life in Lynchburg - a student blogs about her clinical group learning how to start an IV
Adventures in Motherhood and Other Risky Endeavors - a woman showcases her husband's recently-placed PICC including photos
Photo Credit: Bull3t
The nurse you see typing away may be doing more than updating a patient's online medical record - she might be blogging. One hospital in Texas has a blog team with 30 members including nurses, physicians and other hospital employees. A number of hospitals are also uploading medical videos for patient education purposes. Live webcasts of surgical procedures are nothing new, it's the public sharing via YouTube or other online video sharing sites that has given the footage new life. Patients have led the movement of documenting every step of treatment for diseases including cancer and diabetes. A quick Google search on cancer blog returns 51.8 million results. A similar search on diabetes blog comes back with 22 million entries. Read more about how even the operating room is becoming connected.
Photo Credit: The Facey Family