There seem to be a lot of people who still don’t get it. Social Media is redefining what is possible in health care. We are still at the stage where early innovators – both in terms of patients and providers, whether they’re hospitals, administrators, or individual clinicians – are starting to create a dialogue. This is a two-way conversation, used to shed light on problems and facilitate a solution where possible. This has implications on several levels, from customer service and patient advocacy to direct medical care, public policy, marketing and product development, and more. There are plenty of examples that draw from Austin’s own (ample, nationally recognized) thought leadership in the area.
We had coffee with Reed Smith this past week and learned about an exciting new addition to Austin’s scene that launched this past month: The Social Health Institute. Built upon several years of findings through consulting, advising, and working in hospitals and with clinicians on social media adoption, the SHI will aim to formalize these learnings in a way that is scalable to new audiences. We’ll monitor their progress over the coming weeks and months to provide AHT community with some insight into how the delivery system can improve (or begin) their use of social media to improve health care.
Another Social Media leader right here in Cap City is Greg Matthews. We posted an overview of his latest project, which analyzes social media conversation in the public, private, and medical sectors. A more in-depth read is available here. You can also follow him on twitter and check out his WCG blog posts; his MDigital Life project is the most comprehensive national effort to assess adoption of social media by medical practitioners in their delivery of care to patients. Pretty cool stuff.
We’ll be continuing coverage of these initiatives and other projects as they develop. To the doubters, haters, or just those people who like a good infographic, check it out (hattip: HCSmonitor)
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