Comments on: How are Facebook, Twitter and Clinical Outcomes Tied Together? Welcome to the “Online Age”

By: Sherry Krueger

Sherry Krueger — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:22:12 +0000

Giving your patients undivided or personal attention is what you do IN the office. This refers less to an individual and more to a group. For example if you could tell ALL of your patients somthing. Like we are now offering flu vaccines so make and appt. Or we are out of the H1N1 Vaccine, Or somthing even more personally encouraging to their health like To all my patients on the stop smoking program I know that this is a hard day. Dont give in and remebr tto get up and go get a glass of water when you feel the urge to smoke. On Facebook this would unite all of your like patients on a thread and let them talk amongst each other about their experiences. And it only took you 3 minutes for many of your patients to hear from you.

Sherry L. Krueger
http://www.hna-net.com

By: Don L. McCord M.D.

Don L. McCord M.D. — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:20:42 +0000

I agree with Dr. Scott. This following is a quote from a letter to the editor of National Review Magazine:

“—the frantic noisy distractions and capricious dominance rituals of our high tech toys are transforming our species in a fundamental way, from brooding, contemplating great apes into clicking, chittering insects.”

By: Dr. Scott

Dr. Scott — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:04:12 +0000

I think this is nice, in theory. It’s nice for the patient, yes. But when I get 30 people emailing me, posting comments on my facebook page, texting me questions, it gets time-consuming. If they ask a question knowing that I probably won’t have time to respond, that’s fine, but it’s when they expect an answer immediately, or are annoyed if I don’t respond – that’s another issue altogether. I don’t have enough hours in the day to treat the paying patients, let alone give advice and recommendations away for free…

By: Michael R Nagel MD

Michael R Nagel MD — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:38:13 +0000

You are not addressing the liability of not answering the electronic messages in a timely manner or missing a serious complaint being sent electronically.
Who is paying for the 5 minute messages that can amount to a more prolonged dialogue?
I feel that a patient deserves a doctor’s undivided attention in the office setting –not on the ethernet.
Michael Nagel, M.D., MPA, FACC