Digitized Medicine

Twitter Chats and Physicians (#eRx630)

Today I (as @drmattmurray) and @TexMed moderated our first Twitter Chat that focused on the topic of e-prescribing. To participate in a Twitter Chat a physician must have a Twitter account and must know the date, time and Twitter hashtag for the Twitter Chat.  In our case the hashtag-- #eRx630--refers to e-prescribing and the date, June 30th, by which time physicians must meet the CMS requirements regarding the use e-prescribing. Physicians who fail to use a qualified e-prescribing system or certified EHR to enter at least 10 e-prescriptions during eligible Medicare encounters will incur a 1% penalty on 2012 Medicare claims.    On the other hand, those who meet this requirement are eligible for a 1% bonus. 

Despite the high importance of this subject matter, there were not any other physicians participating on this particular Twitter Chat.   At least none that we heard from.   It was lonely.  

However, we considered this to be an experiment and a chance to experience what it is like to actually moderate a Twitter Chat.    Without a lot of participating "chit-chat", it was difficult to coordinate questions and answers with my friends @TexMed and @TexMedHIT.     We basically asked each other questions or even asked ourselves for our own answers.  I think we did get out some excellent information, but this would have been more valuable with some active back-and-forth dialogue.   Again, though, the purpose of this venture was to dip our toes in the water to see how this type of format could be used in the future. 

Twitter Chat among physicians will certainly have challenges, but I think it will find it's place as a useful mode of communication for specific purposes and in certain situations.  The format will need to be refined, and this means we will have to try it (like today!), experiment with it, refine it and keep doing that PDSA thing to it (Plan-Do-Study-Act).   Eventually it will find a place where it serves as an effective way to communicate some things.     I already have found Twitter useful at large medical conferences that use a hashtag to communicate real-time information.    It is a matter of finding the right niches. 

One of the useful aspects of a Twitter Chat is that a transcript can be created of the entire conversation.  This means that you don't have to be "online" and engaged in the Twitter stream for the entire duration of the chat.   Since most physicians are hard pressed to find an un-interrupted hour, they would find it very helpful to be able to access and peruse the transcript at their leisure.

Here is a transcript of today's Twitter Chat #eRx630:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Use of Twitter to Communicate With Patients, Clinicians...

The way that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is using Twitter during the H1N1 influenza situation has changed my perspective about the use of online social media in healthcare.  I previously wrote off Twitter as a fad or phenomenon that would fade away as quickly as it appeared.  I could not see value in communicating information in less than 141 characters. However, I found that I did gain value when I began following the CDC's swine flu "tweets" (@CDCemergency), especially during the first few weeks of the H1N1 influenza situation.  When the CDC discovered new information or developed new recommendations, they not only posted it on their website, but they also used Twitter to alert followers that there was new information or recommendations posted (with hints regarding the subject of the new content).  The "tweet", which I set up to come through my iPhone, often included a brief summary and a link that conveniently took the follower directly to the full content of the new information which was posted on their website.  This saved me time as I did not have actively look for new content on the website if I had not been alerted by Twitter.  I also did not have to surf through the CDC websites to find new information.  This spurs me to seriously consider how I might use Twitter and other social media within my practice of medicine.  I already recognize the value of blogs.  At my son's college, for instance, the dean uses a blog to communicate with his large, diverse community of students, parents, professors and so forth.  He even posts YouTube videos of some of the "happenings" at the University.  I like that as a parent.  So, it has got me seriously thinking about how I might use Twitter and a blog site to allow me to more effectively reach out to my adolescent patients who are quite comfortable with this new type of social interaction.  Perhaps there is a place for Facebook in my practice as well, but will take things one step at a time.  Certainly any large physician group or even a healthcare system could use these social media tools to more effectively communicate with patients, parents and families just as the dean at a University does.   Some are beginning to do that.  Not exactly sure how this will all work out...but I figure the best approach is to jump in with something, get feedback and continually adjust it.

drmattmurray