When Angela Current was diagnosed with a rare cancer she immediately went online to start researching the condition. Utilizing the internet to find medical information isn't a new concept. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, eight in ten internet users have looked online for health information. Many e-patients say the internet has had a significant impact on the way they care for themselves or for others. Current however took her online adventure one step further by delving into social networks to connect with others with a similar diagnosis. "The chat was nice for instant moral support and for meeting people like me, with cancer," Current said in an interview with Pulse + Signal. To read Current's entire interview and learn more about the role social media played in her cancer journey, click here.
Photo Credit: Andy Woo
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
You probably use email, Facebook and instant messenger to connect with friends and family. Have you considered those methods of communication for talking to your doctor? Recent studies suggest that patients are interested in new ways of communicating with their healthcare providers. A Manhattan Research study showed that 5 percent of respondents had sent or received an email from a healthcare provider and 49 percent were interested in email as a form of patient-doctor communication in the future. Another survey by Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found that 55 percent of consumers want to be able to communicate with their healthcare providers via email.
Continue reading to learn how a former NBA player communicates electronically with his doctor and the pros and cons of friending your doctor.
Photo Credit: Southern Tabitha
You might know Twitter as a Web 2.0 application that makes more sense for personal use rather than business use. In a nutshell, Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that wants its users to answer the question: "What are you doing?" The service makes users (also known as Twitterers) keep their thoughts short and to the point - 140 characters or less. To learn more about Twitter, click here.
A number of companies (Zappos.com, Comcast, JetBlue and Whole Foods) and celebrities have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. But you may wonder how it applies in the medical space. A recent report in Telemedicine and e-Health shared 10 medical uses for Twitter as recommended by a clinical nurse:
- Disaster alerting and response
- Diabetes management
- Drug safety alerts from the FDA
- Biomedical device data capture and reporting
- Shift bidding for nurses and other healthcare professionals
- Diagnostic brainstorming
- Rare disease tracking and resource connection
- Providing smoking cessation guidance
- Broadcasting infant care tips to new parents
- Post-discharge patient consultations and follow-up care
To read the full article, click here.
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
Could that rash on your child's face be chicken pox? Is the discomfort in your chest the early signs of a heart attack or just indigestion from over indulging in Chinese food? According to recent report released by the
Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and the California Healthcare Foundation, 61 percent of American adults are searching online for medical advice and information.
While many people are busy Googling their latest ailment, the Internet places third (tied with books) behind going to the doctor and talking to friends or family members for medical advice. For more on the study, continue reading
here.
Photo by:
jonlarge