The Power Of Social Media And Networks In Healthcare

Social media has become much more than a way for friends and family to share personal experiences. Many industries have embraced blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and other more specialized communities to conduct very effective outreach to their customers, partners, and employees. I use these tools myself extensively to communicate with peers and stay abreast of the fast changing landscape in the technology industry. For healthcare providers, social media is proving to be a tremendous asset for both improving patient access and more efficiently and effectively delivering care.

The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, the health services research arm of Deloitte LLP, recently produced a research paper on Social Networks in Health Care which demonstrates clearly some of the tangible benefits that social networks can bring to health care. According to the Deloitte study, more than 50% of the people surveyed get their healthcare information online and 60% of physicians want to use social networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, for professional purposes. With both patients and providers leveraging the same technologies, the opportunity exists to bring them together in ways that were simply not possible even five years ago.

One of the most successful niche social networks for healthcare is PatientsLikeMe, a web site with significant social tools and data sharing dedicated to helping patients find others with similar conditions and enabling spontaneous support groups. PatientsLikeMe was founded for the very reasons that social networking is gaining immense traction throughout healthcare, a small group of engineers wanted to solve the problem of how to become as informed as possible about the treatments and life issues surrounding serious ailments. The data sharing platform of PatientsLikeMe enables insights into the effects and responses to treatment that would be near impossible to get otherwise. PatientsLikeMe recently has expanded to include providing enhanced tools for patients to find and take advantage of clinical trials.

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