We need to talk about our relationship? | Upstream

Sometimes medical doctors get a bad rep for not being progressive. I was proud to read a blog from, Claire McCarthy, M.D., a pediatrician from Boston Children?s Hospital advocating for the use and importance of social media. She said, ?Social media takes science and technology and mixes it with two fundamental human needs, relationships and communication.? She explains that it allows for relationships to be built between provider and patient and media being a vehicle for more frequent and fruitful communication; something we all complain is lacking in the medical field.

Patient-provider communication is a predictor for many health outcomes. Sadly, the frequency in which many of us go to the doctor is quite low; especially for high risk populations i.e. minorities, men, etc. Interestingly, the use of social media is quite high. Social media allows health care professionals to meet individuals where they are eliminating some barriers to receiving medical attention.

The details are still fuzzy but the prospects are exciting. It will take all of us, patients, medical doctors, public health professionals, health communicators and informational technologists, to come to the table and figure out how to make it all work. The product could revolutionize the health status of the nation.

Image Source:?FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Source: http://upstreamdownstream.org/2012/09/we-need-to-talk-about-our-relationship/

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