A large thank you to my guests, Dr. Jeffery Segal of Medical Justice and Amy Tenderich of Diabetes Mine, for their appearance on Social Media Throwdown – Should Patients Blog About Their Doctors.

To listen to the program click the play arrow on the player above. I also thank all those that tweeted comments from the hashtag #hcmktg. The conversation focused on three elements, 1) patients blogging, 2) health rating sites, and 3) disease community sites and their impact on healthcare.

On the issue of patients blogging about their doctors, the Medical Justice position is that single negative comments can be ruinous to the reputation of a physician when viewed in either isolation, the blogger is anonymous, or the full story is not disclosed. They essentially are not looking to curtail speech but recognize in many situations half a story can be misleading. As Dr. Segal mentioned on the show, he’d rather have physicians work in conjunction with patients to encourage more of them to blog so that the reader can form an opinion based on more instances rather than less.

Even Tenderich, a dedicated blogger advocate in healthcare, believes patients who blog about their healthcare experiences should do so with some rules, a Patient Blogger Code of Ethics, starting with never blogging anonymously. Her blog Diabetes Mine has turned into a resource for innovation and support for patients and caregivers of diabetes. One example is the Diabetes Mine Design Challenge an online competition of products to improve living with diabetes. A winner for this year will be announced later this month.

I invite healthcare marketers and PR practitioners to listen to this edition of Social Media Throwdown. I found the discussion provided insights into how patients can become part of the information pool about healthcare delivery promotion and delivery improvement. Getting beyond the lightening rod issues of stifling or at the very least structuring patient commentary, the idea advocated by Dr. Segal of a shared risk among patient and physician may well be the future of healthcare. In the show he cites an example of a woman with breast cancer who also wants to have a child, seeking a physician with whom she can work with to achieve her goals. As more information is available online, physician ratings becoming more comprehensive, perhaps even standardized, the concept of taking an active part in physician selection as opposed to being directed to see specific physician, will be commonly accepted by younger generations.

This concept is right in line with the generational trend to be in greater control, whether it’s online music, travel arrangements, banking, or healthcare, the trend is for a more engaged, informed consumer who also has the ability to share their experience, good, bad, or indifferent.

_________________________________________________

Speaking Appearances:

Media Relations Summit – New York City -May 18 – 19 – Highlighting the ways companies can use multimedia to secure media relations.

Jeff Pulver’s #140 Conf – New York City – June 16 – 17 – Ways Twitter is impacting, business, advertising, media, and democracy

Midwest Society of Association Executives – Minneapolis – June 2 – Twitter Smart Medium or Time Waster?

American Hospital Association – Orlando, FL – September 30 – Using Social Media in Healthcare

I will explore this issue with Dr. Jeff Segal of Medical Justice, the organization that attempts to put context around the patient discussion of their visits with physicians, even if that means limiting patient’s ability to blog about their physician. We will be joined by Amy Tenderich of Diabetes Mine. Tenderich has built a tremendous community about diabetes and through this community’s active blogging is generating shared knowledge to improve diabetes treatment.

Join the conversation Should Patients Blog About Doctors live, Friday, May 8 at 1:00PM Central Time on Blog Talk Radio. You can call in (646) 716-4882, ask questions or send in questions on the @AlbertMaruggi Twitter tag. This show is brought to you by Social Media Throwdown.

I have thought for a long time that for society to gain the maximum benefits from social media many current cultures in a typical corporate structure would need to change. From legal to finance, HR to PR, the ways of the last 100 years would need to change if transparency is to be rewarded, and improvement was to be an accepted continuing process.

I also believe that social media is more a movement than a marketplace. Not just a tool for someone to exploit, but an opportunity to engage in more of our shared humanity. Today, the actions of one courageous healthcare leader solidified that belief.

Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, has been a prolific blog writer since October 2006. Levy’s blog is called Running a Hospital.

On it he has had an open discussion about his hospital, its work, and his own performance. This openness about successes and failures has received acclaim in the press, praise from many and murmurs of dubious wonder from others. I know from speaking with many in healthcare during presentations and meetings there are some who wonder how Levy can get away with being so transparent.

It’s simple, he is about improving, every day, throughout his hospital, profession and life. He is also, it seems, sincere about caring for people, both those in the care of BIDMC and those employees who are on the frontlines of healthcare delivery. This has infected the other cultures around him so that they too are committed to a cause of caring in an environment that rewards improvement.

Paul Levy, President and CEO Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

credit Globestaff/Pat Greenhouse

This however, is not a rose colored glasses story about how social media is improving medicine, while it maybe true, this story is about how social media is making better people of us. It is a story about the human desire to be a part of something larger, to be acknowledged as of value and connecting to each other.

Levy doesn’t use corporate speak; his writing is about real situations, from surgery procedures to improving the use of protective equipment, from the joys of a moonlit backyard to numerous stories of hospital employees.

It is with this foundation of candor, this unprecedented transparency that Paul Levy stood at the front of an auditorium full of employees who came to hear his decision about laying off workers during difficult economic times.

Instead of an announcement, he asked for their opinion of a potential solution that may avoid layoffs. Levy travels his hospital corridors plenty, enough to know how many people it takes to deliver quality care. To keep the level of personnel that he believes necessary to deliver quality care, he asked the following as reported by Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe.

“I’d like to do what we can to protect the lower-wage earners – the transporters, the housekeepers, the food service people. A lot of these people work really hard, and I don’t want to put an additional burden on them. “Now, if we protect these workers, it means the rest of us will have to make a bigger sacrifice,” he continued. “It means that others will have to give up more of their salary or benefits.”

The reaction according to Cullen was “Thunderous, heartfelt, sustained applause. “

The seeds of this applause were sown in the many places and people that Levy has touched. A fertile field for all to see is his blog with hundreds of posts. I believe this body of work, the hundreds of comments, and the dialogue he has participated in with patients, employees, supporters and critics are a measure of the man.

Which brings me to the cultures that need to change, for transparency to work in an organization, there needs to be a mutual respect and a commitment to improve. In reading the comments submitted to the blog from the Boston Globe story, listening is a major quality of Paul Levy. It’s not a coincidence that listening is also an important quality to have in a successful relationship and I believe social media is merely a channel for relationships.

Much of America has a very long way to go to eliminate the culture of “gotcha,” of confrontation, a culture of “keep the info, keep the power.” All these insecurities and tactics of greed will hinder the benefits of what social media can bring to an organization and our society. With each blog post, each honest answer to a criticism, each good idea raised and implemented, the organization becomes stronger.

This defining moment is an example of how powerful social media can be in the hands of people who are committed to make things better. Thank you Paul Levy and the wonderful people of BIDMC.

Time 20:53

As more consumers use the web to research their medical needs and choices, the greater the demand for some type of performance metrics in healthcare delivery. This dynamic taking place in healthcare is causing greater competition among providers, and more healthcare marketers to look for ways to tell their story.

Healthgrades dot com is one of several sites that provide detailed reporting on physician performance, legal issues, and hospital outcomes. Within the last year, surveys of hospital outcomes mandated by Medicare are now available to the public. These points of data are piling up to create a mountain of information for patients to sort through as they make a decision on healthcare. To be sure, reliance on a general physician and friends and family are important, but checking that information against a report card gives a bit more substance behind a decision. Other physician rating sites include Find a Doc, Vitals, and RateMDs

In this podcast with Christopher Boyer of Healthgrades.com , we explore some of the reasons why millions of people are using these sites. We get into what tactics hospital marketers should be evaluating to tap into the stream of information patients and their families are accessing.

The most important indicator to examine social media and understand the impact of rating sites is the powerful element of “intended search” in healthcare. Those searching for healthcare information are usually doing so because of a need. It is more than likely it is an urgent need. Healthcare is different in this regard that many other industries. People can causally shop around a vacation destination or a car without a making a purchase, it’s unlikely that people are casually browsing hiatal hernia or slip disk remedies.

Another good resource is Boyer’s social network for healthcare marketers hosted on Ning. I’ve posted Marketing Edge podcast interviews on healthcare on a dedicated healthcare and social media page. www.providentpartners.net/healthcare

Call us with your comments or questions that we can chat about on the show, 206-600-6887. Provident Partners donates a food item for every comment we received.

Is it a coincidence that the top two hospitals on US News and World Reports honor roll of the best hospitals in the US also have strong social media programs? I’m delighted to make that connection with two friends who do an outstanding job at their respective leadership positions in social media for Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Mayo Clinic.

Elizabeth Tracey is Director of the Johns Hopkins Health Newsfeed and has pioneered podcasting for the large healthcare entity in Baltimore. The podcasting is used to educate patients as well as provide content to other media outlets. For example, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, yes a newspaper, is carrying the Johns Hopkins HealthNewsFeed. Tracey treats the Johns Hopkins organization as a newsroom not just as a provider of information to other news organizations. This approach gives the talents and people of Johns Hopkins Hospital signifcant exposure that builds trust with their communities.

Lee Aase, public affairs manager, at the Mayo Clinic continues to push the social media envelope and capitalize on the wealth of healthcare expertise at Mayo. There is a series of blogs and podcasts that Mayo produces clearly available on their main navigation. In addition, a creative Mayo Clinic channel on YouTube has garnered interesting interaction, from thousands of views to potential participants in clinical trials for new treatment.

Congratulations to both Elizabeth Tracey and Lee Aase. On whether it is just coincidence that both organizations have strong social media programs; let’s put it this way, leadership is the one constant in a hospital achieving such a significant status. These dynamic organizations approach social media as they do healthcare delivery, with innovation and a dedication to serving the needs of their publics.