Health Economists About Social Media

Last week, I got an invitation to speak at the Central European University about how the new generation of doctors and e-patients use social media. I also described how crowdsourcing works in medicine.

As there were only health economists, economists, lawyers and business people in the audience, I received some great questions. It was particularly interesting as these people had a good picture about healthcare but did not know much about social media.

Q: Is there a site where patients can track their own conditions and meet each other? It would be a great idea.

My answer: Plenty of them, one example is Patientslikeme.com

Q: Is it possible to somehow curate medical social media channels?

My answer: Of course, see Webicina.com.

Q: It would be great to have a site where doctors can talk to each other.

My answer: There are over 60 of them.

Q: Is there a law protecting patients’s rights online?

My answer: HIPAA

Q: Is it dangerous to write content as a doctor online?

My answer: It can be if the limitations and potential dangers are not known by the writer.