Medical students behaving poorly

Several media outlets reported on a report this week from the Journal of the American Medical Association about medical students behaving poorly online. With the increased use of social media web sites, more schools are reporting incidents of poor behavior, including profane language, drunken behaviors, and sexually suggestive material. But few medical schools have policies of professionalism that extend to students' presence online. The report shows that medical schools have much work to do to address emerging technologies and work on ways to teach future doctors how to navigate the online social media world in a professional and appropriate manner.

Will tweeting improve physician communication?

That was the question posed by AACH on Twitter (@aachonline). An article in Health Leaders Media examines the trend of hospitals using Twitter to reach out to patients, families and potential new patients. The trend isn't necessarily going to bring in new patients, but many hospitals see it as a means of becoming more transparent with increasingly involved patients and their families.

Twitter is a potentially powerful communication tool, but it is only as powerful as the people using it. Physicians, nurses and hospitals using Twitter have to approach it the same way they approach all communication with patients. That is, it is best to be transparent, honest and to speak in a language the patients can understand. Physicians should listen to their patients as to how much and what kind of information they want and need. Twitter can a great tool for listening to patients in addition to talking at them.

Social support during illness and social media

CNN had an interesting story this week about the importance of social support when facing an illness and the role social media can play in creating a place for that support. Web sites and social networking sites can give patients and families a chance to share their stories and hear about the stories of others. Dr. Charles Raison, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine and CNNhealth.com's mental health expert said in the story "The jury is still out a little bit on whether social support helps you survive -- but it definitely helps you live better."

hospitals and social media

The New York Times had an article yesterday about the growing trend of hospitals using various types of social media to reach potential patients. In the past, hospitals have been quite conservative about marketing and advertising, but now you can find hospitals posting videos of surgeries on youtube, surgeons twittering during surgery, and patients blogging about their care at a hospital.

Hospitals see social media outlets as a cheap way to reach out to potential patients, who are increasingly doing more research and comparing hospitals for treatment, rather than simply going where the doctors sends them. But ethicists quoted in the NYT article raise some important questions, not just about patient privacy concerns, but also about the responsibilities hospitals have regarding how they represent themselves. Do these videos and other outreaches paint too rosy a picture of medical care at a given facility? Do hospitals have an obligation to disclose on the video what can go wrong during a procedure? There are also serious questions about using social networking sites to recruit volunteers for clinical trials. After reading the article, I would add questions about whether patients might be coerced into allowing a physician to broadcast a procedure or to give a positive review for a web video.

The article raises important questions. What do you think? What ethical questions should hospital consider when thinking about social marketing strategies?