Jeff Rowe is the editor of Future Care and a veteran healthcare journalist and blogger who has reported extensively on initiatives to improve the healthcare system at the local, regional and national level.
Do you tweet?
Not so long ago, such a question would likely have resulted in people backing slowly away from the questioner, but that was in another era, long before the explosion of what we know as "social media."
Virtually unknown just a few years ago, social media can be found in pretty much every corner of society, including, of course, the healthcare sector. In response to recent surveys, nearly half of consumers say social media tools influence their choice of hospital or physician, while more than half of surveyed physicians say that social media enable them to care for patients more effectively. In addition, over 40% of large hospitals report using social media.
But despite the wildfire spread of social media across healthcare, the exact value of it is still difficult to determine. As a result, many healthcare stakeholders are still uncertain as to how much time, energy and resources they should dedicate to building and sustaining a social media program.
On August 27th, at 12:00 PM EST, HIMSS Future Care and the Center for Connected Medicine, based at UPMC, will be hosting a Twitter chat, organized under #futurecare, that will take a look at, among other things, the evolving role of social media in healthcare, how "connected medicine" lends itself to social media and how social media can be leveraged to engage patients in meaningful dialogue.
Set your hashtag to #futurecare..See you then @glevin1
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