Chapter 14
Social Networking and Other Web-Based Applications in Healthcare
Copyright © 2014 by Mosby, an imprint of Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
What Is Social Media?
Social media definitions include:
Web-based applications
Interactive capabilities
User-generated content
Sharing and collaboration features
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Based on web 2.0 principles, is interactive rather than passive dissemination of content.
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What Is Social Media? (Cont.)
Uses of social media include:
Provider-to-consumer
Consumer-to-consumer
Companies-to-consumers
Organizations-to-consumers
Provider-to-provider
Public health-to-consumer
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What Is Social Media? (Cont.)
Major organizations using social media
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Mayo Clinic
Veterans Administration
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Does your health care institution use social media?
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Social Media Tools
Social networks
Blogs and Wikis
Microblogging
Social bookmarking
User-generated sites (e.g., YouTube, Flikr)
Virtual worlds
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Social Media Tools (Cont.)
Social networks
Online platforms enable groups and individuals to connect with others to share similar interests.
Blogging and Wikis
Blogs represent a web-based, chronological journal of an individual author’s thoughts.
Wikis represent a collaborative, web-based effort to compile information on a particular topic.
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Social Media Tools (Cont.)
Microblogging (Twitter)
Is a form of blogging where entries are kept brief using character limitations.
Social bookmarking
Is a way to organize and store online resources.
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Social Media Tools (Cont.)
User-generated content
Channels allow visitors to view and share media (e.g., videos, audio, photographs).
Virtual worlds
Allows users to create a three-dimensional arena with graphics and sound simulation for education and socialization purposes.
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Social Media Statistics
One in five Americans use social media to obtain healthcare information.
Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults have used the Internet to obtain health information, whereas 46% of adults use social media.
Fifteen percent of those users (or 7% of all adults) have sought health information from a social media site.
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Social Media Statistics (Cont.)
Eleven percent of all adults have followed a friend’s health experiences on a social network site.
Seventeen percent of social network site users have used a social network to memorialize someone.
Twenty-four percent of Internet users have sought drug reviews online.
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Benefits of Social Media
Allows information to be shared with the intended community.
Microblogging produces valuable public health information and is a possible motivator.
Patients find people with similar conditions.
Increases public awareness.
Sites are used to recruit patients for research.
Enables patients to manage their own health.
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Challenges of Social Media
Privacy and confidentiality
Inappropriate behaviors
Security
Regulatory issues
Market pressure
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Challenges—Privacy and Confidentiality
Healthcare providers are “dual-citizens.” They must:
Adhere to federal laws and professional standards.
Acknowledge information unintentionally revealed by actions on social media sites.
Be aware of privacy and security measures taken by social media sites.
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Challenges—Inappropriate Behaviors
Questionable blog and photographic postings
Unprofessional commenting
Projecting attitudes unbecoming of respectable healthcare personnel
Actively seeking out patient information online
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Challenges—Security
Viruses
Spyware
Phishing and Internet threats
Malicious friending
Security breaches
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Challenges—Regulatory Issues
Social media sites and the Internet as a whole are not regulated.
Companies must be cautious and avoid posting anything that could be viewed as off-label promotions.
Healthcare providers must be cognizant of the medical information they post and the advice that they provide.
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Challenges—Market Pressure
Market pressure and consumer demand for social media applications are growing.
More and more social media resources are emerging to provide public opinion on goods and services.
Healthcare providers find the low cost use of social media as an economical means to market their resources, educate patients, and engender patient loyalty.
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Policy
Policies are needed to guide organizations and clinicians through recommended social media practices and should:
Limit information disclosure.
Illuminate the behaviors that increase the potential for breaches of patient privacy and confidentiality.
Engender professional integrity by discouraging clinicians from divulging too much of their own personal information.
Define acceptable limits for social media use, as well as the consequences for its overuse.
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Resources for Policy Development
An institution’s existing information security policy may be adapted to meet identified needs.
An institution can find useful guidance from other institutions, government bodies, and professional organizations.
See Box 14-3 for specific resources.
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Conclusion and Future Directions
If Healthcare + Social = Social Health (today)
Then Social Health (today) = Health (future)
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