Looking toward Social Networking and the link to personal healthcare

A quick google search this week on Healthcare topics lead me to an interesting site called iHealthbeat. 

iHealthBeat is a free, daily news digest reporting on technology's impact on health care. iHealthBeat is part of the California HealthCare Foundation's commitment to important issues affecting health care policy, delivery and financing.
iHealthBeat editors review more than 300 newspapers, journals, and trade publications to produce daily news summaries.

In the headlines today was the article from the Baltimore Sun from 10/11/10 called

Health Care Providers Embracing Social Media To Attract Customers

In this article, the power of Facebook, Twitter, and Group coupons ( new phenomenon where the company puts out an offer for 50-90% off a product for a 24 hour period of time, which is good only if a specified number of participants can be found.  Therefore each person who is interested in the coupon is going to spread it across the social media network of their choice to try and garner enough takers so the coupon becomes valid).

Non-personal types of health care were featured like discounts on teeth whitening or eye exams and eye glasses.  The customers seem very satisfied with the outcomes and the health care provider has gotten a rush of media publicity at a minimal cost.  One dentist had 30 appointments from a Groupon with 29 people signing up for a follow up appointment at regular prices.

This type of social networking is also found for several home care agencies, home health agencies, senior care facilities, health care political groups to name a few.  Just searching the words, "health", "health care" , "help for seniors" within Facebook lead to multiple companies who had pages on Facebook to introduce the community to their services.

It will be interesting to see how these networks grow as rules around personal health care information security gets tighter in the era of the electronic medical record and healthcare reform.  For now, however, social networking may be a way to increase knowledge and grow your business for a much lower cost.  The consumer is going to have to do their due diligence as well to be sure that these are all legitimate businesses with good credentials.

 

 

Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/10/12/health-care-providers-embracing-social-media-to-attract-customers.aspx#ixzz13dAmtbcX

Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/about.aspx#ixzz13d9pZ9x5

Creating a Blog for the first time

I am trying to decide what type of blog I really want to create.  I find that I appreciate blogs that share special inspirational stories, not something I will be good at doing, and blogs where I can learn something.  I hope this blog will serve as the latter for me and anyone who reads it.
I am very interested in learning about ways to help those of us in the middle of the baby boomer generation.  How do we become or stay healthy.  How do we help are parents, children and grandchildren become the healthies and most independent they can be.
How can we re-design the system to put the patients in the center of determining their care.  I would like to see who in the communities is willing and available to partner with a non-medical agency to provide the contniuum of care between those transitions we all go through.
I look forward to doing the research to find links I think may help all of us.  If you see anything, I may like, please let me know.
Happy Blogging