RESOURCE: 5 Social Media Trends Within Healthcare in 2014 | Zach Cutler
Every year, social media increasingly integrates with almost every aspect of daily life. According to the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of adults online use some form of social media. So it’s not surprising that social media is beginning to work its way into the healthcare arena.
A report by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics found physicians spend twice as much time consulting online resources than traditional print sources. And doctors certainly aren’t alone in consulting online sources when it comes to health information. In the U.K., reports place Facebook as the fourth most popular source of health information. In the U.S., between 70 and 75 percent of people look to the internet for healthcare information.
Social media channels are huge portals for sharing information with patients. It seems unlikely the social media trend will die down anytime soon, and healthcare professionals need to become fluent in the ways in which social media can impact and improve their professions and the lives of their patients.
Here are just five of this year’s social media trends impacting the healthcare field:
- Crisis Readiness
- Teaching Patients
- Live Tweeting Procedures
- Improving Prevention
- Empowering Patients
Read more: 5 Social Media Trends Within Healthcare in 2014 | Zach Cutler.
Written by Brian S McGowan, PhD
Brian is a research scientist and educational technologist. He helped transform Pfizer’s Medical Education Group and previously served in educational leadership roles at HealthAnswers, Inc.; Acumentis, LLC.; Cephalon; and Wyeth. He taught graduate medical education programs at Arcadia University for 10 years. Dr. McGowan recently authored the book "#socialQI: Simple Solutions for Improving Your Healthcare" and has been invited to speak internationally on the subject of information flow, technology, and learning in healthcare.
