Doctors Are Using Social Networking to Connect Better With Their Patients

What’s the latest social networking trend? According to USA Today, it’s doctors creating Facebook pages and opening Twitter accounts to connect better with their patients. Take Dr. Jeff Livingston, an OBGYN in Irving, Texas. He has about 1,600 followers on Twitter and more than 700 friends on Facebook. Patients can browse photos of the babies he’s delivered or ask burning health questions. For instance, a woman recently asked if her fetus could get an infection if she swam in a public pool. He posted the question and his answer promptly, because so many pregnant women ask the same question during the summer. The answer, by the way, is “no.” Some patients say social networking has humanized Dr. Livingston, and that’s why they chose him as their doctor. Like Kristi Franco. She moved to Texas from Florida, and says she found him on Facebook – and ended up choosing him as her doctor partly because his Facebook page made her feel like she already knew him.

Critics worry that doctors who blog, tweet, and post information, comments and pictures on Facebook may be violating patient privacy. For instance, when patients post all their medical problems on a doctor’s Facebook wall, they’re there for everyone to see. However, supporters point out that if a patient posts their own medical information on the Internet, the doctor hasn’t violated doctor-patient confidentiality. A lot of doctors haven’t embraced social networking sites because they worry their privacy is in jeopardy. They don’t want to feel like they’re always on the clock.

There’s money at stake too. Kevin Pho is an internist in New Hampshire and he says if doctors are answering questions for free on Facebook or Twitter, they’re losing money, because they only get paid when they talk to patients in the examining room. The debate continues! Within the next year The American Medical Association’s Ethics Committee hopes to set guidelines for doctors who get involved with social networking. Until then, do you follow your doctor on Facebook or Twitter? Would you choose a new doctor based on their social networking skills?